Password management provider SplashData has released its 25 worst passwords of the year ordered by how common they are. Unsurprisingly ‘password’ is number one on the list.
SplashData created the list using millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers. Here is the list:
1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football
LORD Knows strongly advises that if your password is on the list that you should change it. Hackers break into many private accounts just by trying common passwords.
Tips for a stronger password
- Include letters, numbers and special characters when possible
- Choose passwords with eight or more characters, you can separate words with underscores
- Don’t use the same password and username combination for different websites as if one gets hacked they can hack your other accounts easily
If you struggle to remember all of your passwords you can use a password management tool such as LastPass www.lastpass.com, which is free for the basic version, or a premium version which includes apps for your smartphone and it costs less than one pound per month.
