Although multiple efforts have now been made by various sites and apps to ensure that your passwords are strong enough to avoid any sort of security breach but there are still some passwords that are painstakingly horrible. One company called SplashData that owns the app SplashID, which helps you manage your passwords, has taken it upon themselves to study around a million different passwords that have been susceptible to hacking and created a list of the unacceptable ones. The list includes combinations like “123456”, “password”, “admin”, and “abc123.” Although sometimes hiding things in plain sight works best but the technology-oriented hackers can always find a way to outsmart everyone!
“Donald”, “princess” and “sunshine”, have also managed to make it to the top of the 25 worst passwords this year. Hackers exploit the use of data they collect once they manage to get into your accounts committing fraudulent acts which could lead to serious information loss and a threat to your personal security. It is very important to maintain strong passwords that are less predictable.
Here is the list of the top 25 worst passwords of 2018 and the complete list is available on SplashData:
1. 123456
2. password
3. 123456789
4. 12345678
5. 12345
6. 111111
7. 1234567
8. sunshine
9. qwerty
10. iloveyou
11. princess
12. admin
13. welcome
14. 666666
15. abc123
16. football
17. 123123
18. monkey
19. 654321
20. !@#$%^&*
21. charlie
22. aa123456
23. donald
24. password1
25. qwerty123
One of the few steps you can take to ensure maximum security includes using a password manager. This keeps your passwords intact and in one place. Some of the apps that can help you with this function are SplashID, LastPass and 1Password. Some of these password managers can also additionally create possible unique combinations which you can use for different websites and logins. In this way, if one of the sites gets breached, the rest will remain secure.
“It’s a real head-scratcher that with all the risks known, and with so many highly publicized hacks such as Marriott and the National Republican Congressional Committee, that people continue putting themselves at such risk year-after-year,” said SpashData’s CEO, Morgan Slain.
When it comes to the more important tier of passwords and logins such as banking and social media, you can opt for multi-factor or two-factor authentication. For instance, banks will require you to enter another set of 6-8 digit numbers beside your login ID and password. This makes sure that even if a hacker is able to get past your initial security, they will not be able to cause much more severe harm.
Another method that can be used is an inexpensive hardware-based security key. According to Google, when they internally tested their hardware key in 2017, there were zero phishing attacks. The multi-level authentication makes sure that the user is alerted with a hardware key, a passcode sent to their phone alone with an authentic unique code. The hardware keys are user-friendly and flexible as they work with Windows, Macs, and smartphone devices over USB, USB-C, Bluetooth, or NFC connections.
Check out the top 100 here.
Source: SplashData via The Verge