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Ever wonder what are the passwords people use the most? SplashData, a software company that makes password management programs and apps, has compiled its annual “Worst Passwords” list for 2012, which gives us some insights on what the most popular bad passwords used by people. The top three most used passwords? Drum roll please… “password”, “123456”, and “12345678”. (In case you are wondering, there is no “1234567” in the top three because “123456” is used for those logins that require a minimum of 6 characters and “12345678” is used for those logins that require a minimum of 8 characters; not as many logins require a minimum of 7 characters, hence why you don’t see “1234567” in the top three.)
The following is the full list of top 25 worst passwords for 2012:
- password
- 123456
- 12345678
- abc123
- qwerty
- monkey
- letmein
- dragon
- 111111
- baseball
- iloveyou
- trustno1
- 1234567
- sunshine
- master
- 123123
- welcome
- shadow
- ashley
- football
- jesus
- michael
- ninja
- mustang
- password1
“Monkey” is really number six? I would have never guessed that. And “Ashley” is more popular than “Jesus”? Those feminine charms…
I’m sure, or at least I hope, that people that are using such passwords are using them for non-critical accounts that, even if hacked, wouldn’t cause much of an issue. However, that may not necessarily be the case. As SplashData CEO Morgan Slain points out, the presence of “welcome” at number seventeen indicates “people are not even changing default passwords”. (Slain says this because he assumes “welcome” is more likely a default password given to new users of a system rather than a password users manually pick.)
Do you use any of the passwords in the list shown above? Or do you have your own “guilty pleasures” when it comes to passwords? Share in the comments below! And be sure to read dotTech’s five easy-to-follow tips for creating secure passwords to stay safe.
[via CNN]
