Special Report: New tricks to help protect your identity

Hundreds of times a day, hackers attempt to break into online retailers, financial organizations, credit card companies, even the digital records for brick and mortar stores. You are their target and they want your personal information.

In November 2013, Target announced a data theft affecting millions of customers.

Then came Neiman Marcus, Home Depot, and just two months ago, Acme stores across the region - and it was all the work of digital saboteurs who try to steal data.

"On a given day, probably hundreds of times a day," said Jack Tomarchio, Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney.

However they need only be successful once to turn your life upside down - whether you are simply shopping or innocently playing an online game.

Just ask self-described gamer Dennis Dozier.

"They changed my password to what they knew, and once they did, they got into all my accounts," said Dozier.

Like many do, Dozier lives much of his life online, meaning a lot of information about him is out there.

Once he was hacked, data thieves were able to take over his cell phone and forward his calls and they did the same with his email.

From there, they gained access to almost all his online accounts.

"They would just go to those sites, and click 'Forgot password, forgot password, forgot password,' send it to my email, which they control now, and just went through everything," said Dozier.

His story is increasingly common.

Jack Tumarchio, a former undersecretary of Homeland Security, says that requires something more than common sense - it requires some real work.

First, ask yourself this basic question - To whom am I handing over this information?

"Vendors that you know, that you would trust, that have some kind of profile in the marketplace," said Tomarchio.

Simply put, bigger retailers and reputable websites can employ bigger defenses.

Second, don't pick one seemingly secure password or pin and think that's a safe, smart thing to do.

"It's a dumb thing to do. You should have different passwords and you should change them with some frequency and regularity," said Tomarchio.

Every three months, while cumbersome, is ideal.

And that includes any passwords you may not think of - like your cellphone carrier, iTunes or Amazon account, and your email.

And never reply to emails requesting your password for more information.

Also, consider getting a new debit card every so often. If you plan to use your card heavily during the holidays, experts suggest getting a new one for the next month or two, and cut it up when the shopping season is finished.

Taking your cards out of circulation once in a while is what Tomarchio calls good cyber hygiene.

"It's like a digital chess game. When a defense is enacted, the bad guys try to get around the defense," said Tomarchio.

And until a truly secure system to protect yourself is invented, that is a constant job.

If you're willing to spend about $12 a month, you can pay a credit monitoring service to keep tabs on things.

And you should be keeping tabs, too, checking your credit and bank account statements weekly.