SplashData has announced its annual list of the 25 most common passwords found on the Internet. For the first time since SplashData began compiling its annual list, "password" has lost its position as the most common (aka the “Worst Password”), and two-time runner-up "123456" took the dubious honor. "Password" fell to #2.
Here are the top 10 worst passwords to use:
- 123456
- Password
- 12345678
- Qwerty
- abc123
A few other more interesting choices that made the list—iloveyou (#9), trustno1 (#24), and monkey (#17).
Keep your company (and personal) accounts safe. SplashData offered ways to make passwords more secure. Here are a few of their tips to pass along to employees:
Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters. But even passwords with common substitutions like “dr4mat1c” can be vulnerable to attackers’ increasingly sophisticated technology, and random combinations like “j%7K&yPx$” can be difficult to remember.
One way to create more secure passwords that are easy to recall is to use passphrases—short words with spaces or other characters separating them. It’s best to use random words rather than common phrases. For example, “cakes years birthday” or “smiles_light_skip?”
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 e-mail, social networking, or financial service sites. Use different passwords for each new website or service you sign up for.
See the complete list online.
This is a great thing to remind employees about–and it’s probably better to require alpha and numeric characters plus a special character (e.g., $). With so many passwords to remember these days, employees may be less vigilant about selecting strong passwords for their work accounts than their personal.
One strategy is to establish a set of rules such as always capitalize the letter c, always substitute @ for lower case a, always substitute ! for lower case l. Thus Casablanca becomes C@s@b!@nC@. I could right Casablanca on a post it note stuck to my computer and no one would know my actual passwoer.
Outstanding post, you have pointed out some fantastic points, I as well think this is a very great website. kedgbcdekgag