Internet security developer SplashData has unveiled their yearly list of this past year's most common passwords, revealing 2015 to be rife with such airtight codes as..."123456," "password," and "qwerty."
SplashData's annual report, crafted from over 2 million passwords that had been leaked over the course of last year, not only showcases the 25 most popular — and thus most easily hackable —passwords, but also list rankings for those curious how their lemon of a security phrase stacks up.
Going over the list, the top ten most popular passwords of 2015 were:
- 123456
- password
- 12345678
- qwerty
- 12345
- 123456789
- football
- 1234
- 1234567
- baseball
SplashData points out the overabundance of numerical sequences — #12 went to "1234567890," for example — stating that even if some websites demand users to create longer passwords, they become so simple that the extra length is "virtually worthless as a security measure."
"We have seen an effort by many people to be more secure by adding characters to passwords," said SplashData CEO Morgan Slain, "but if these longer passwords are based on simple patterns they will put you in just as much risk of having your identity stolen by hackers."
Other common passwords seem strong at first glance, but are based on simple, easily guessable patterns. "1qaz2wsx" and "qwertyuiop," both ranked on the Worst Passwords list, seem hard to guess at first until you realize they are just the first two columns and first row of letters on a standard keyboard, respectively.
"Using common sports and pop culture terms is also a bad idea," continues Slain, remarking on other head-slappingly simple entries on the list, such as "football" and "starwars."
This past year's list is the fifth annual one concocted by SplashData, with 2014 being the first year that the bane of IT staff, "password," was usurped by "123456."
"We hope that with more publicity about how risky it is to use weak passwords, more people will take steps to strengthen their passwords," says Slain.
As for those whose passwords made it on this list, we suggest that a new year's resolution is in order.
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