If Your Password Is On This List You Need To Change It Now
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Using these common passwords could put you at risk – These days, more and more websites and apps require us to create passwords. Whilst we know they shouldn’t be easy to guess, for the sake of convenience we often choose passwords that are simple to remember.
Trevor Cooke, the online privacy expert at EarthWeb, discusses the passwords that make us most vulnerable to online criminals.
What’s The Problem?
Approximately 66% of small businesses have experienced a cyber attack in the last twelve months. However, it’s often individuals who prove to be easier targets.
Rather than going to the trouble of breaching firewalls and other defence mechanisms when trying to defraud a business, to take advantage of you criminals simply need to hack your password. Once they have this, they can access your accounts and wreak havoc.
Common Number Combinations
Lots of research has been conducted into actual data breaches where people’s personal information was leaked. Some of the most common passwords involved were simple, easy-to-remember number combinations like 111111, 12345, 123456, 12345678, 123456789, and 1234567890.
Other number-related examples include Qwerty123, 1q2w3e, and Q2w3e4r5t. Using your date of birth is also frequent, and using your birth date as your password is doubly problematic as this gives hackers another key piece of information about you that they can use to access your accounts.
Common Words Used
Some major examples include people’s favourite names or the names of people close to them (e.g. Eva, Alex, Anna, Max, Ava, Ella, and Leo) and top sports teams (e.g. Suns, Heat, and Liverpool). Others use curse words, cities (e.g. Rome and Lima), and days and seasons (e.g. Friday, summer, and winter).
Folks commonly mention food (e.g. ice, tea, pie, cookie, and cake). Finally, take immediate action if you’ve chosen: admin, Qwerty, welcome, Password, Password1, or p@ssw0rd. These are extremely common and very easy to guess, and put you at significant risk.
How To Create Strong Passwords
Short passwords are easier to guess, so the longer the better. Each one should contain letters (in upper and lower case), numbers, and a symbol.
Trevor says, ‘The safest approach is to use a password generator combined with a password manager. Some of the best password generators include LastPass, KeePass, NordPass, RoboForm, and Dashlane’.
If you replace your vulnerable passwords with stronger ones, you’ll protect your data and help prevent identity theft. Store them in a password manager and never disclose them to others. Follow these tips and you can ensure your data and accounts stay safe from criminals.
