A password is perhaps the single most important thing you set up online. So why, are there still so many of us unable to produce a sensible one? This list of the 25 most popular passwords of 2014—proves it.
SplashData’s annual list compiles the millions of stolen passwords made public throughout the year and puts them into order of popularity. A quick look down the list reveals that we’re still content with using passwords such as “123456”, “password”, “12345”, “12345678” and “qwerty” – (Rolls eyes)
It’s probably a good time to remind yourself not to use any of these on the list, and to start using sensible passwords, LastPass or similar to keep your personal information safe. 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 email, social networking, or financial service sites. Use different passwords for each new website or service you sign up for.
Take a look at the list below, and if you’re using any of them or close to them, just stop.
- 123456
- password
- 12345
- 12345678
- qwerty
- 123456789
- 1234
- baseball
- dragon
- football
- 1234567
- monkey
- letmein
- abc123
- 111111
- mustang
- access
- shadow
- master
- michael
- superman
- 696969
- 123123
- batman
- trustno1
