{"id":7524,"date":"2015-01-23T10:27:11","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T02:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=7524"},"modified":"2015-01-23T10:27:11","modified_gmt":"2015-01-23T02:27:11","slug":"1234-password-still-top-list-worst-passwords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2015\/01\/23\/1234-password-still-top-list-worst-passwords\/","title":{"rendered":"‘1234’ and ‘password’ still top list of worst passwords"},"content":{"rendered":"

SplashData has announced its annual list of the 25 most common passwords found on the Internet \u2013 thus making them the \u201cWorst Passwords\u201d that will expose anybody to being hacked or having their identities stolen. In its fourth annual report, compiled from more than 3.3 million leaked passwords during the year, \u201c123456\u201dand \u201cpassword\u201d continue to hold the top two spots that they have held each year since the first list in 2011. Other passwords in the top 10 include \u201cqwerty,\u201d \u201cdragon,\u201d and \u201cfootball.”<\/p>\n

\"gI_86012_Worst<\/a>As in past years\u2019 lists, simple numerical passwords remain common, with nine of the top 25 passwords on the 2014 list comprised of numbers only.<\/p>\n

Passwords appearing for the first time on SplashData\u2019s list include \u201c696969\u201d and \u201cbatman.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Valentine\u2019s Day is less than a month away, \u201ciloveyou\u201d is one of the nine passwords from 2013 to fall off the 2014 list.<\/p>\n

According to SplashData, the passwords evaluated for the 2014 list were mostly held by users in North America and Western Europe. In 2014, millions of passwords from Russian accounts were also leaked, but these passwords were not included in the analysis.<\/p>\n

SplashData’s list of frequently used passwords shows that many people continue to put themselves at risk by using weak, easily guessable passwords.<\/p>\n

\u201cPasswords based on simple patterns on your keyboard remain popular despite how weak they are,\u201d said Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData. \u201cAny password using numbers alone should be avoided, especially sequences. As more websites require stronger passwords or combinations of letters and numbers, longer keyboard patterns are becoming common passwords, and they are still not secure.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, users should avoid a sequence such as \u201cqwertyuiop,\u201d which is the top row of letters on a standard keyboard, or \u201c1qaz2wsx\u201d which comprises the first two \u2018columns\u2019 of numbers and letters on a keyboard.<\/p>\n

Other tips from a review of this year\u2019s Worst Passwords List include:<\/p>\n

– Don\u2019t use a favorite sport as your password \u2013 \u201cbaseball\u201d and \u201cfootball\u201d are in top 10, and \u201chockey,\u201d \u201csoccer\u201d and \u201cgolfer\u201d are in the top 100. Don\u2019t use a favorite team either, as \u201cyankees,\u201d \u201ceagles,\u201d \u201csteelers,\u201d \u201crangers,\u201d and \u201clakers\u201d are all in the top 100.<\/p>\n

– Don\u2019t use your birthday or especially just your birth year — 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992 are all in the top 100.<\/p>\n

– While baby name books are popular for naming children, don\u2019t use them as sources for picking passwords. Common names such as \u201cmichael,\u201d \u201cjennifer,\u201d \u201cthomas,\u201d \u201cjordan,\u201d \u201chunter,\u201d \u201cmichelle,\u201d \u201ccharlie,\u201d \u201candrew,\u201d and \u201cdaniel\u201d are all in the top 50.<\/p>\n

Also in the top 100 are swear words and phrases, hobbies, famous athletes, car brands, and film names.<\/p>\n

This is the first year that SplashData has collaborated on the list with Mark Burnett, online security expert and author of \u201cPerfect Passwords\u201d (http:\/\/www.xato.net).<\/p>\n

“The bad news from my research is that this year’s most commonly used passwords are pretty consistent with prior years,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cThe good news is that it appears that more people are moving away from using these passwords. In 2014, the top 25 passwords represented about 2.2% of passwords exposed. While still frightening, that’s the lowest percentage of people using the most common passwords I have seen in recent studies.”<\/p>\n

Slain says, \u201cAs always, we hope that with more publicity about how risky it is to use weak passwords, more people will start taking simple steps to protect themselves by using stronger passwords and using different passwords for different websites.”<\/p>\n

Presenting SplashData\u2019s \u201cWorst Passwords of 2014\u201d:<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 123456 (Unchanged from 2013)
\n2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 password (Unchanged)
\n3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12345 (Up 17)
\n4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12345678 (Down 1)
\n5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 qwerty (Down 1)
\n6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1234567890 (Unchanged)
\n7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1234 (Up 9)
\n8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 baseball (New)
\n9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 dragon (New)
\n10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 football (New)
\n11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1234567 (Down 4)
\n12\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 monkey (Up 5)
\n13\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 letmein (Up 1)
\n14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 abc123 (Down 9)
\n15\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 111111 (Down 8)
\n16\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mustang (New)
\n17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 access (New)
\n18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 shadow (Unchanged)
\n19\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 master (New)
\n20\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 michael (New)
\n21\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 superman (New)
\n22\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 696969 (New)
\n23\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 123123 (Down 12)
\n24\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 batman (New)
\n25\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 trustno1 (Down 1)<\/p>\n

SplashData offers three simple tips to be safer from hackers online:
\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters.
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Avoid using the same username\/password combination for multiple websites.
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use a password manager to organize and protect passwords, generate random passwords, and automatically log into websites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SplashData has announced its annual list of the 25 most common passwords found on the Internet \u2013 thus making them the \u201cWorst Passwords\u201d that will expose anybody to being hacked or having their identities stolen. In its fourth annual report, compiled from more than 3.3 million leaked passwords during the year, \u201c123456\u201dand \u201cpassword\u201d continue to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[2420,54,2421],"class_list":["post-7524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-laptops-computers","tag-password-management","tag-security","tag-splashdata"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}