Every year, we get to read all about the most common passwords of the year before. This release of info comes from several different companies that compile the information based on the known hacks of the previous year.
In this blog, I’m referencing a company called SplashData .
Their 2017 list was published late in December, and there are some doozies (as per usual) on the list.
We published the top 5 in an Instagram post(shown above).
Notable additions to the list (since previous years) point to pop culture references – such as “starwars”
A note on using pop culture references in your passwords : Don’t. Just, Please – Don’t.
Hackers run through these common pop culture references as a matter of course – in addition to trying all the common standard ones like 12345, or Password.
And in case you’re thinking your IT guy said to do letter-and-number substitutions: @ssW0Rd is no more secure than pa55w0rd. Because the substitutions are easy to predict, and even easier to check all the permutations with a simple algorithm.
So here’s the list of the top 25 for 2017, as released by SplashData – and again, our advice remains the same – find a Password Manager and/or Generator, and get comfortable with using it. Because your dog’s name, your children’s names and Birthdays, and your previous 3 houses or the suburb you grew up in are not safe to use as passwords.
1. 123456 (Unchanged)
2. Password (Unchanged)
3. 12345678 (Up 1)
4. qwerty (Up 2)
5. 12345 (Down 2)
6. 123456789 (New)
7. letmein (New)
8. 1234567 (Unchanged)
9. football (Down 4)
10. iloveyou (New)
11. admin (Up 4)
12. welcome (Unchanged)
13. monkey (New)
14. login (Down 3)
15. abc123 (Down 1)
16. starwars (New)
17. 123123 (New)
18. dragon (Up 1)
19. passw0rd (Down 1)
20. master (Up 1)
21. hello (New)
22. freedom (New)
23. whatever (New)
24. qazwsx (New)
25. trustno1 (New)
#ForReal.
Here are 4 suggested Password Managers and Password Generators – there are heaps – the key is to find one that you are comfortable using. Here’s an article about why you need a password manager.
SplashData (Splash ID personal — they do have a business version)
