You can never be too safe on the internet which is why it’s crucial to opt for strong passwords and enable additional layers of security like two-factor authentication for all accounts. Despite the repeated warnings from cybersecurity experts, the rising data breach incidents, and with blatant disregard for sensible thinking, many are still entrusting their online security to a password that is the first to come to mind. The most common password of 2017 is not going to surprise you at all.
For the second year straight, “123456” was the most commonly used password discovered in data dumps in 2017. Quite a few data breach incidents took place this year and this simple password was found to be a popular choice with people who were affected by these breaches. What’s worse is that “password” was the second most commonly used password this year.
A lot of people rely on very simple passwords to protect their online accounts unsurprisingly. Some of the other terms on the list of top 100 worst passwords of 2017 include sports terms like baseball and Lakers, car brands like Ferrari and Mercedes, and even basic expressions like iloveyou.
Even a budding hacker with a brute force script could end up gaining access to peoples’ accounts by simply going through this list until there’s a match. The list was compiled by SplashData, a company that develops password management utilities. It analyzed more than five million user records leaked online this year to create this list.
It can’t be stressed enough that people should always use strong passwords that will be difficult to crack by brute force attacks. When available, two-factor authentication should also be taken advantage of.
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