Security threats may become more complex and sophisticated, but our password choices don’t follow the same pattern.
Security software developer Splashdata has released its annual list of the worst — and most common — passwords used on the web in 2012. Worryingly, very little has changed from 2011, where “password”, “123456″ and “12345678″ are still in the top spots — although Trustwave placed “Password1″ in the top three slots last year, whereas it’s a new addition in Splashdata’s version.
In addition, several new arrivals in the top 25 awful passwords are “jesus”, “welcome”, “mustang”, and sadly “ninja”.
According to PC World, the data is based on file dumps from online hacking campaigns, which include high-profile security breaches suffered at Yahoo, LinkedIn, eHarmony, and Last.fm.
Here is the complete list, including places going up or down:
1 password Unchanged
2 123456 Unchanged
3 12345678 Unchanged
4 abc123 Up 1
5 qwerty Down 1
6 monkey Unchanged
7 letmein Up 1
8 dragon Up 2
9 111111 Up 3
10 baseball Up 1
11 iloveyou Up 2
12 trustno1 Down 3
13 1234567 Down 6
14 sunshine Up 1
15 master Down 1
16 123123 Up 4
17 welcome New
18 shadow Up 1
19 ashley Down 3
20 football Up 5
21 jesus New
22 michael Up 2
23 ninja New
24 mustang New
25 password1 New
The simple fact of the matter is that if you choose a password which follows a simple pattern or is an obvious word, not only will it be easy for you to remember, but it will also be easy for simple attacks to breach your personal security.
If you’re struggling for ideas, check out SmartPlanet’s guide to creating secure, easy-to-remember passwords.
Related:
