SplashData has recently released a list of the worst passwords of 2017.
The Worst Passwords of 2017
In an increasingly online world, we’re becoming more and more connected to our computers and phones. Whether for work or play, there are a variety of logins and passwords that we all juggle in order to access everything from our Netflix account to email and social media. It’s very important, however, that the passwords we use be difficult to crack. Popular passwords, as listed below, are also the worst passwords. The more common your password is, the easier it is to crack, and SplashData has compiled a list of the worst passwords of 2017 to give us a look into common practices to avoid when it comes to securing your account.
From a list of over five million leaked passwords, this list of the 25 most popular entries marks the worst possible passwords you could have while logging into your various apps and websites.
- 123456
- Password
- 12345678
- qwerty
- 12345
- 123456789
- letmein
- 1234567
- football
- iloveyou
- admin
- welcome
- monkey
- login
- abc123
- starwars
- 123123
- dragon
- passw0rd
- master
- hello
- freedom
- whatever
- qazwsx
- trustno1
What Makes a Good Password?
In a recent press release, Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData, explained a little more about what makes a password vulnerable to online hackers.
“Unfortunately, while the newest episode may be a fantastic addition to the Star Wars franchise, ‘starwars’ is a dangerous password to use…Hackers are using common terms from pop culture and sports to break into accounts online because they know many people are using those easy-to-remember words.”
The company’s main goal with this list is to encourage people to reevaluate the passwords they use online. While this list of the worst passwords of 2017 is only a small portion of the passwords used online, they show some trends that should be considered off-limits. Things like simple number sequences or common words without any capitalized letters, numbers, or symbols are things that are best to avoid. Pop culture references are also a no-go, as these phrases are part of a list that hackers use while trying to bruteforce a password and gain entry into your account.
Another important tip to take into account is to avoid using the same password on a variety of sites. Doing so opens you up to some serious security issues if even just one of your accounts were to be compromised. While it may be a hassle to remember a number of different passwords, it’s worth the effort to avoid massive damage should your usual phrase be discovered and exploited.
SplashData mentioned that the worst passwords of 2017 were primarily pulled from users in North America and Western Europe, and did not include passwords from compromised adult websites or the recent Yahoo hack.
At the end of the day, this compilation of horrible passwords is an interesting look at the average user’s habits online. While most of us are connected to the internet in one way or another, there are a large number of users that aren’t very tech savvy. Hopefully, this recent publication by SplashData will result in at least a few users upping the security on their usual passwords.
