SplashData.comrecently published the following information regarding the most popular 2012 passwords on the web. The ranking was based on password information from compromised accounts posted by hackers online. The article was also featured on blogs.avg.com.
This year, the list is back! So it’s time to see how, if at all, users have learned their lessons about what makes a strong password.
Here’s the full list and how it compares to last year’s:
|
# |
Password |
Change from 2011 |
|
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 |
As you can see, people haven’t changed their password habits a whole lot in a year.
If your password is included on that list, or is a close variation of these passwords, it’s really important to take action now!
Fixing your password problem can be very simple;
Long is strong: The longer the password, the more difficult it will be for someone to try and crack it using brute force. So, instead of a single word, with a jumble of symbols, numbers and characters, try a string of words. Use a line of your favorite poem, song or just something memorable. Feel free to add your lucky number at the end if you like.
Something like: "withnodirectionhome1085"
This is a copy of a post at SplashData.com. I have posted this here as a Public Service