With so much of our lives and information contained in that little box on your desk or lap, it’s important that we protect it as much as we can. The most basic form of security is the password and that’s where many of us are going wrong.
How secure is your information? It depends on how strong your password is.
Earlier this year Splashdata released a list of the worst passwords of 2013 which was compiled from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online during the previous year. What they found is that most of us are so worried about forgetting our passwords that we choose ones which are easy to remember. The problem with that is that if we can work them out, so can some hacker who wants his wicked way with your data.
One good sign which shows we are becoming more aware of our security is that “password” as a password has finally lost its number one spot on the list.
But guess what its replacement is? Yep. It’s 123456.
Here is the list of the top 25 worst passwords of 2013.
1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. 123456789
7. 111111
8. 1234567
9. iloveyou
10. adobe123
11. 123123
12. sunshine
13. 1234567890
14. letmein
15. photoshop
16. 1234
17. monkey
18. shadow
19. sunshine
20. 12345
21. password1
22. princess
23. azerty
24. trustno1
25. 000000
Your password is what keeps your data safe so it’s worth creating a strong one and memorising it.
The best passwords, according to Splashdata and most security experts, will have eight characters or more, combining letters, numbers, and symbols. It is recommended that you don’t use the same password for everything, and that you have an even stronger password to keep your financial information safe.
Go and check your own passwords now. If you recognise it from this list, take immediate action to change it.
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