NORFOLK, Va. - During the pandemic, many people opened up a lot of new online accounts.
According to an IBM survey, people created 15 accounts on average, from online grocery pickups to new streaming services.
The issue - 82 percent of people also said they reused the same password for at least some of their accounts.
Google cybersecurity expert Kaylin Trychon says there are three useful tools that can improve account security.
One of those is relying on Google's password manager.
It creates and saves strong passwords which are automatically filled in.
You'll also know if a password is compromised.
"We scan them constantly through our database to make sure that if they are breached, we're alerting you automatically," said Trychon.
Another layer of security is using two-step verification.
That's when an extra code is sent to your phone or email address to enter when logging in.
She also recommends using Google's security checkup feature once a month, or at least every six months.
"It will tell you right then and there everything you need to do to get your account into the most secure state," said Trychon, "It takes all of two minutes to go through the prompts, so it will say 'You're missing a backup email; make sure you put one in. This password was breached; change it here. Enroll in two-step verification,' and it basically just goes through, you just click through, and you get yourself in a really good state."
