In 2016 “123456” continued to be the most used password by internet users around the world. The password is used by 4 out of 100 network users.
This is the sixth annual report carried out by SplashData , called Worst Passwords List , which lists the 25 worst passwords used around the world during the year. For the survey, more than 5 million passwords were analyzed that were discovered and made public throughout 2016.
The report shows that just over 10% of people use at least one of the 25 worst passwords on the list, with almost 4% of people using the worst password, “123456”.
Among the 25 worst passwords, only 8 are new and 17 were already on the 2015 list . For the sixth year in a row, the two most used passwords are “123456” and “password”. Simple numeric passwords also stand out, where 7 passwords are made up only of numbers.
List of the 25 worst passwords used in 2016:
- 123456 (unchanged)
- password (unchanged)
- 12345 (+2)
- 12345678 (-1)
- football (+2)
- qwerty (-2)
- 1234567890 (+5)
- 1234567 (+1)
- princess (+12)
- 1234 (-2)
- login (+9)
- welcome (-1)
- solo (+10)
- abc123 (-1)
- admin (new to list)
- 121212 (new on the list)
- flower (new on the list)
- passw0rd (+6)
- dragon (-3)
- sunshine (new to list)
- master (-4)
- hottie (new on the list)
- loveme (new on the list)
- zaq1zaq1 (new to the list)
- password1 (new in the list)
Using any password on the list leaves users at great risk of being attacked and having their accounts or data stolen.
“Making small changes to an easy-to-guess password doesn't make it secure, and hackers will take advantage of these trends,” says Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData. With the release of the report, the objective is to draw users' attention to the risks of using simple passwords and encourage the use of more secure passwords on the network, as it has been proven that the majority of attacks and loss of information are caused by the use of simple passwords. of weak passwords, which are easily discovered with the attack methods used by hackers.
For companies, it is very important to raise awareness among employees so that secure passwords are used. Because with weak passwords, the company and its employees are vulnerable to various types of attacks, such as loss or kidnapping of data and theft of information.
With good guidance and simple measures, it is possible to create secure passwords and greatly reduce the risk of security incidents and breaches.
I share this article , which highlights the importance of paying attention to using strong passwords and lists some tips on how to create secure passwords. I also suggest downloading the complete guide for creating and managing secure user accounts and passwords , which can be shared with your company's employees for guidance on how to keep their accounts and passwords secure.
These two simple measures will make your passwords more difficult for third parties to discover:
- Use passwords with eight or more characters, containing letters and numbers.
- Avoid using the same username and password combination for multiple registrations.
You can also take a look at the list of worst passwords in the years 2015 , 2014 and 2013 .
And be sure to share in the comments experiences or problems that you or your company have faced with insecure passwords and what measures were taken to resolve the situation.
