These Are the Absolute Worst Passwords You Could Possibly Choose
If any of these passwords look familiar, you'll want to change your settings immediately—or risk having your account hacked.
With the dozens of passwords you need to keep track of, it’s tempting to find a simple string of letters or numbers to remember and stick with that. If it’s easy for you, though, it’s probably easy for hackers to figure out too.
Software company SplashData analyzed more than 5 million leaked passwords to find out which were the easiest for hackers to figure out. For several years in a row, “123456” and “password” topped the list of worst passwords. They’re likely among the first passwords an identity thief will try, so you’re leaving the door wide open for crooks to steal your information. (Here’s expert advice on how to prevent identity theft.)
Don’t think that sneaky letter-to-number trick will save you either. Nineteen on the list was “passw0rd,” using a numerical zero instead of the letter “o”. “Hackers know your tricks, and merely tweaking an easily guessable password does not make it secure,” says SpashData CEO Morgan Slain in a press release.
Using your hobbies and interests could be easy to figure out too. Also on the top 25 worst passwords were “football” (9), “monkey” (13), “starwars” (16), and “dragon” (18). Cutesy sayings also weren’t hard to crack. Some of the most common included “letmein” (7), “iloveyou” (10), “welcome” (12), and the creative “trustno1” (25).
Using an easy-to-guess password makes it easy to steal your data. Reusing those same weak passwords across multiple accounts means if a hacker gets into one account, you leave the door open for him or her to make it into other accounts more easily, too.
The best passwords are at least 12 characters long, and use a mix of characters such as capital and lowercase letters, according to SplashData. Using a fresh password for every account also helps, so use a password manager to keep you organized. If the password is so hard that even you can’t remember it, a hacker will have a hard time breaking in, too.
Here are the 25 worst passwords for online security
| Rank | Password |
|---|---|
| 1 | 123456 |
| 2 | password |
| 3 | 12345678 |
| 4 | qwerty |
| 5 | 12345 |
| 6 | 123456789 |
| 7 | letmein |
| 8 | 1234567 |
| 9 | football |
| 10 | iloveyou |
| 11 | admin |
| 12 | welcome |
| 13 | monkey |
| 14 | login |
| 15 | abc123 |
| 16 | starwars |
| 17 | 123123 |
| 18 | dragon |
| 19 | passw0rd |
| 20 | master |
| 21 | hello |
| 22 | freedom |
| 23 | whatever |
| 24 | qazwsx |
| 25 | trustno1 |
[Source: Mental Floss]
Next, find out why you need to stop commenting on those viral Facebook memes.
