The invention provides for a method, a device, a use of the method and a computer program, all of which increase the security of linked lists for the storage of data. This is achieved by an improved protection against the destruction of data caused by defective pointer values pointing at elements of another linked list. For this purpose known methods for forming check sums, such as parity and cyclic redundancy check, for forming a second check sum allowing to check the pertinence of an element to a linked list, are used. Another aspect of the invention resides in the formation of a common check sum by using different methods for different lists.