Will we EVER learn? The most common passwords of the year are revealed – with ‘password’ and ‘123456’ topping the list yet again

When it comes to choosing a password, it seems like many of us still don’t take security very seriously, especially when it comes to streaming movies and TV shows.

That’s because new research has found that ‘123456’, ‘admin’, ‘password’ and ‘user’ are once again among the most popular login phrases in the world.

Not only that, but a third of the world’s most popular passwords are made up of purely numeric strings such as ‘123456789’, ‘12345’ and ‘000000’.

The analysis found that people use the weakest passwords for things like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, while the strongest logins are reserved for financial accounts.

According to password management company NordPass, ‘Netflix’, ‘netflix123’, ‘disney123’ and ‘disney2020’ are among the most commonly used passwords for streaming services.

Easy to crack: New research finds that ‘123456’, ‘admin’, ‘password’ and ‘user’ are once again among the most popular login phrases in the world (stock image)

Britain’s favorite passwords: In Britain, both ‘password’ and ‘password1’ were again among the most used passwords this year, according to password management company NordPass

THE MOST COMMON PASSWORDS IN THE UK

  1. 123456
  2. password
  3. qwerty
  4. Liverpool
  5. 123456789
  6. Arsenal
  7. 12345678
  8. 12345
  9. abc123
  10. Chelsea
  11. qwerty123
  12. football
  13. dragon
  14. password1
  15. cheese
  16. let me in
  17. 1q2w3e4r
  18. monkey
  19. killer
  20. forest rangers

‘Apple2020’, ‘Iphone1234’ and ‘Samsung1’ were popular among smartphone users, ‘minecraft’ for gamers and ‘amazon’ for e-commerce websites.

While financial accounts were found to have the strongest passwords, it should be more than a little concerning that there are people who have chosen the phrases ‘visavisa1’ and ‘paypal123’ to protect them.

According to NordPass, football also remains a common inspiration for internet users’ passwords.

The annual Most Common Passwords report found that many Brits were using player and team names for their logins, including ‘Liverpool’, ‘Arsenal’, ‘Chelsea’, ‘Rangers’, as well as simply ‘Football’.

That may not be such a surprise.

What’s more interesting, however, is that, rather bizarrely, people in Britain also like to choose passwords related to animals or mythical creatures, such as ‘monkey’ and ‘dragon’.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a general password list without the word “password” on it.

In Britain, both ‘password’ and ‘password1’ were again among the most used this year, according to NordPass.

‘Qwerty’ – the six characters at the top left of a computer keyboard – also featured heavily, along with abc123.

Somewhat randomly, ‘cheese’ also appears in the top 20 most common passwords, while ‘letmein’ and ‘killer’ were also popular.

Perhaps most worryingly, all logins on the UK list take less than a second to crack, prompting NordPass to warn of the need to better protect accounts from hackers.

It said that instead of internet users improving their password creation habits, they went the other way this year by sticking to already pre-configured passwords.

For example, ‘admin’ wasn’t even on the global charts in 2022, but has now risen to the top of the charts in most countries surveyed, barring Britain.

Worldwide it ranks number 2 overall.

Alarmingly, ‘Admin’ didn’t even make the global charts in 2022, but has now risen to the top of the charts in most countries surveyed, with the exception of Britain

On the other hand, in the US, ‘123456’ was also the most popular login, along with ‘password’

THE TOP 50 MOST COMMON PASSWORDS WORLDWIDE

Rank

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

password

123456

administrator

12345678

123456789

1234

12345

password

123

Aa123456

1234567890

UNKNOWN

1234567

123123

111111

password

12345678910

000000

admin123

**********

user

1111

P@ssw0rd

carrot

654321

qwerty

Pass@123

*****

112233

102030

ubnt

abc123

Aa@123456

abcd1234

1q2w3e4r

123321

wrong

qwertyuiop

87654321

987654321

Eliska81

123123123

11223344

987654321

demonstration

12341234

qwerty123

Admin@123

1q2w3e4r5t

11111111

passage

Time to crack it

17 minutes

11 seconds

1 second

1 second

5 minutes

1 second

11 seconds

3 hours

1 hour

number of users

4,524,867

4,008,850

1,371,152

1,213,047

969,811

728,414

710,321

528,086

319,725

302,709

240,377

234,187

224,261

191,392

177,725

172,502

168,653

159,354

152,497

146,233

144,262

135,424

122,834

109,908

109,836

105,505

102,054

100,920

99,612

98,743

94,698

90,414

86,921

86,486

83,206

81,390

79,434

79,310

78,452

75,755

73,033

72,444

69,006

68,140

67,957

67,787

65,258

64,597

63,545

62,169

NordPass said that if mAs many as 70 percent of the passwords on this year’s global list can be cracked in less than a second.

The company’s independent researchers analyzed password usage in some 35 countries around the world, while also studying how malware attacks can pose a huge threat to people’s safety online.

Once someone’s computer becomes infected with malware, experts say a person risks losing a huge amount of personal information, including passwords and other credentials stored in the browser.

That’s why people should choose stronger passwords that are harder to crack, or use new key technology, she added.

Tomas Smalakys, NordPass’ chief technology officer, said: ‘With the terrifying risks faced by password users, alternative methods of online authentication are now essential.

Lax: The analysis found that people use the weakest passwords for things like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, while the strongest logins are reserved for financial accounts

Hacking threat: The company’s independent researchers analyzed password usage in some 35 countries around the world, while also studying how malware attacks can pose a huge threat to people’s safety online (stock image)

‘Passkey technology, considered the most promising innovation to replace passwords, is successfully paving its way and gaining trust among individuals and forward-thinking companies around the world.

“As one of the first password managers to offer this technology, we see that people are curious to test new things, as long as it helps eliminate the hassle of passwords.”

Cybersecurity expert Jake Moore said: ‘Bad passwords are often an easy way for hackers to gain access to accounts and there are tools cybercriminals use to help them gain access, such as populating password fields with commonly used passwords.

‘People often put their passwords on their social media, such as their pet names or favorite films.’

He added: ‘The smart use of two-factor authentication and robust encryption is a much stronger mix than using the same two or three passwords for all accounts.’

Tips to ensure your passwords are secure

1. Implement a password manager

Password managers allow you to store all passwords in end-to-end encrypted digital storage, locked with a single keyword, for the utmost convenience. Most password managers have additional features to check password strength and automatically generate unique passwords. They can be useful for organizations when sharing passwords with employees or managing their access.

2. Introduce cybersecurity training

As simple human errors remain the leading cause of data breaches, it is worth investing in cybersecurity training for employees. Starting from the basics can be a good idea as people have different levels of technological background.

3. Enable multi-factor authentication

It is known as MFA and serves as an extra layer of security. It is an authentication method that uses two or more mechanisms to validate the user’s identity – these can be individual apps, security keys, devices, or biometrics.

Source: NordPass

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