The password is no longer password — now it’s a numbers game
One of the world’s leading provider of password management applications, Splashdata, has announced its annual list of the 25 most common passwords on the web — with “password” losing top billing for the first time.
This year’s list was influenced by the large number of passwords from Adobe users posted online by security consulting firm Stricture Consulting Group following a cyberattack on Adobe in October. That hack was originally thought to have targeted 2.9m customers but was revised upwards to 38m.
Also in the top 10 most popular passwords are qwerty, abc123,111111, and iloveyou. New to this year’s list are simple and easily guessed passwords like 1234, 12345, and 000000.
Morgan Slain, CEO of Splashdata, said the list should be a guide in what passwords not to use online.
“Seeing passwords like ‘adobe123’ and ‘photoshop’ on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing. Another interesting aspect of this year’s list is that more, short, numerical passwords showed up even though websites are starting to enforce stronger password policies,” he said.
SplashData suggests making passwords more secure with these tips:
* Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters. Consider using passphrases — short words with spaces or other characters separating them.
* Avoid using the same username/password combination for several websites.
* Try using a password manager application that organises and protects passwords and can automatically log you into websites.
1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. 123456789
7. 111111
8. 1234567
9. iloveyou
10. adobe123
