IRC we recommend registering your nickname so you can’t be impersonated. See the steps below.
Step 1 ‐ Register Yourself on Freenode by connectiong to chat or, open your IRC client and setup a connection to Freenode. If there isn’t already a preset for it, use the following settings:
Server: chat.freenode.net
Port: 7000
SSL: enabled
Choose a preferred nickname or nick and enter your desired password. Freenode has good docs on registering a nick, but it boils down to this command:
/msg NickServ REGISTER
Replace
/nick
If it is available, register it and update your IRC client settings.
Step 2 ‐ Setup a password & security
Once you’ve registered a nick and confirmed your email address, login to IRC. The easiest way to do this is to just restart your IRC client and make sure it logs in correctly. Alternatively, you can run this command:
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY
/msg NickServ SET ENFORCE ON