The question is this, why do people use easy passwords for their online accounts? I mean, the bad guys know what the people use for easy passwords, and if you don’t protect yourself, your accounts will be hacked! Yes, today it is harder to remember so many passwords because people have multiple accounts in the online world. But you can write down your passwords and keep them in a safe place, or use a service like LastPass to create hard passwords so your accounts can not be hacked. The company SplashData has released their list of the 25 worst passwords of 2013, they are:
- 123456
- password
- 12345678
- qwerty
- abc123
- 123456789
- 111111
- 1234567
- iloveyou
- adobe123
- 123123
- admin
- 1234567890
- letmein
- photoshop
- 1234
- monkey
- shadow
- sunshine
- 12345
- password1
- princess
- azerty
- trustno1
- 000000
For the first time since SplashData began compiling its annual list, “password” has lost its title as the most common and therefore Worst Password, and two-time runner-up “123456” took the dubious honor. “Password” fell to #2. According to SplashData, this year’s list was influenced by the large number of passwords from Adobe users posted online by security consulting firm Stricture Consulting Group following Adobe’s well publicized security breach.
SplashData’s top 25 list was compiled from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers. The company advises consumers or businesses using any of the passwords on the list to change them immediately! SplashData CEO Morgan Slain said: “Seeing passwords like ‘adobe123’ and ‘photoshop’ on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing.” Here are some tips to make your passwords stronger online!
Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters. One way to create longer, more secure passwords that are easy to remember is to use short words with spaces or other characters separating them. For example, “eat cake at 8!” or “car_park_city?”
Avoid using the same username/password combination for multiple websites. Especially risky is using the same password for entertainment sites that you do for online email, social networking, and financial services. Use different passwords for each new website or service you sign up for.
Having trouble remembering all those different passwords? Try using a password manager application that organizes and protects passwords and can automatically log you into websites. There are numerous applications available, but choose one with a strong track record of reliability and security like SplashID Safe, which has a 10 year history and over 1 million users. SplashID Safe has versions available for Windows and Mac as well as smartphones and tablet devices.
Another great password manager application is LastPass. To the folks who have easy passwords you really need to change them! Being hacked is not a fun experience and it can cost you lots of time, hassle, and money!
Read more of the press release from SplashData at: http://splashdata.com/press/worstpasswords2013.htm
Learn more about SplashID at: http://www.splashdata.com/splashid/.
Learn more about LastPass at: https://lastpass.com/.
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