Passwords Used By Hackers Aren’t That Strong Either [Study]

When we think about our accounts getting hacked, there are times when it is really our fault for choosing bad passwords, like 1234567, abc123, or in some cases, our own names which can be easily guessed. Based on that knowledge, one would think that hackers would be smart enough to choose highly secure passwords, right?

After all, if they know how to exploit our poor passwords, they should be able to guard against themselves, or at least that’s what we think. However according to recent findings by Avast!, it turns out that hackers might not be that smart when it comes to choosing their own passwords either.

Antonin Hyza of Avast! analyzed 40,000 samples of passwords used by hackers and based on his findings, only 10% of those passwords used were beyond normal capabilities of guessing or cracking. In fact some passwords were as long as 75 characters, and some were in sentences with special characters thrown into the mix.

Hyza also found that on average, the passwords used by hackers were around 6 characters long, and that the most frequently used word was “hack” which hardly comes as a surprise and at the same time is a little ironic too.

It is unclear why hackers might use such easily guessed passwords, but it is possible that they don’t want to use their real passwords for their hacking activities, or that they’re just like the rest of us and think that they will never get hacked themselves.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Hacking, Security