With 2017 drawing to a close SplashData has revealed its annual list of the worst passwords of the year, showing that there’s still plenty of people oblivious to good online security.
The evergreen ‘123456’ topped the list followed closely by ‘password’; ‘12345678’ took the bronze medal while ‘qwerty’ came in fourth.
This won’t surprise regular followers of bad passwords, but a few new easily-guessed entries cropped up such as ‘starwars’, ‘123123’ and ‘monkey’.
“Unfortunately, while the newest episode may be a fantastic addition to the Star Wars franchise, ‘starwars’ is a dangerous password to use,” said Morgan Slain, chief executive of SplashData, Inc. “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.”
Such passwords made up of just letters or numbers in consecutive strings are dangerous as anyone with a bit of time on their hands can figure them out then gain access to whatever account or service they are linked to.
Yet such poor passwords still persist at a time when big data breaches, often due to easily-cracked passwords, have been grabbing headlines.
The infamous iCloud hack which saw nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and other high-profile celebrities leaked online was attributed to hackers brute forcing their way through password protection, which would suggest that the passwords used to protect the accounts of the victims weren’t exactly complex.
There are plenty of services that can provide stronger passwords and help manage passwords for multiple accounts in a secure fashion, such as Apple’s Safari browser password generating features and the likes of LastPass, which should help those of us who struggle to remember complex passwords.
Related: Best password managers
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
