Cybersecurity awareness month: How to protect your passwords, accounts from cybercriminals

CHICAGO (WLS) -- October is cybersecurity awareness month and the ABC7 I-Team has tips on how you can better protect your passwords and accounts.

PCMag, an online media publication in the world of technology, says its recent survey shows that 45% of respondents use the same password for everything on most platforms.

The company says most of those respondents also indicated they have been a victim of cybercrime.

It's a reminder that it is important to have different, strong passwords. Use a phrase or sentence with special characters.

Only one-third of people in the survey said they used a secure "password manager" app, but security experts say that may be the best way to go with so many passwords to keep track of. The company also said antivirus software can be the quickest way to detect and minimize damage if it does happen.

The I-Team found in previous reports that security experts say you can store passwords in your smartphone's notes option, but make sure your cloud password for your notes is strong, and make sure you have a passcode on your phone in case you lose it.