When it comes to choosing a password, many of us still don’t seem to take security that seriously – especially when streaming movies and TV shows.
New research has shown that “123456”, “admin”, “password” and “user” are once again among the most popular login phrases worldwide.
In addition, a third of the world’s most popular passwords consist of pure number sequences such as “123456789”, “12345” and “000000”.
The analysis found that people use the weakest passwords for things like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, while the most secure logins are reserved for financial accounts.
“Netflix,” “netflix123,” “disney123,” and “disney2020” were among the most commonly used passwords for streaming services, according to password management firm NordPass.
Easy to crack: New research shows that “123456,” “admin,” “password,” and “user” are once again among the world’s most popular login phrases (archive image)
Britain’s most popular passwords: According to password management company NordPass, both “password” and “password1” were among the most commonly used passwords in the UK this year
The most common passwords in the UK
“Apple2020,” “Iphone1234,” and “Samsung1” were popular among smartphone users, “Minecraft” among gamers, and “Amazon” among e-commerce sites.
Although financial accounts are proven to have the strongest passwords, it should be more than concerning that there are people who have chosen the phrases “visavisa1” and “paypal123” to secure them.
According to NordPass, football continues to be a common inspiration for internet users’ passwords.
The annual Most Common Passwords report found that many Brits were using player and team names for their logins, including “Liverpool”, “Arsenal”, “Chelsea”, “Rangers” and simply “Football”.
That might not be such a big surprise.
What’s more interesting, however, is that in Great Britain, strangely enough, people also like to choose passwords that refer to animals or mythical creatures such as “monkey” and “dragon”.
Of course, without the word “password” it wouldn’t be a common password list.
In the UK, both “password” and “password1” were among the most commonly used this year, according to NordPass.
“Qwerty” – the six characters at the top left of a computer keyboard – was also heavily featured alongside abc123.
Somewhat coincidentally, “cheese” also appears in the top 20 most common passwords, while “letmein” and “killer” were also popular.
Perhaps most worryingly, all logins on the UK list take less than a second to crack, prompting NordPass to warn about the need to better protect accounts from hackers.
It said that instead of improving their password creation habits this year, Internet users went the other way and stuck to pre-configured passwords.
For example, “admin” wasn’t even on the global list in 2022, but has now climbed to the top of the charts in most countries surveyed, with the exception of the UK.
It ranks second overall worldwide.
Alarmingly, “Admin” wasn’t even on the global list in 2022, but has now shot to the top of the charts in most of the countries surveyed, with the exception of the UK
On the other side of the pond: In the USA, “123456” was also the most popular login alongside “password”.
THE 50 MOST COMMON PASSWORDS IN THE WORLD
rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8th
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
password
123456
Administrator
12345678
123456789
1234
12345
password
123
AA123456
1234567890
UNKNOWN
1234567
123123
111111
password
12345678910
000000
admin123
********
user
1111
P@ssw0rd
root
654321
qwerty
Pass@123
*****
112233
102030
ubnt
abc123
Aa@123456
abcd1234
1q2w3e4r
123321
err
qwertyuiop
87654321
987654321
Eliska81
123123123
11223344
987654321
demo
12341234
qwerty123
Admin@123
1q2w3e4r5t
11111111
happen
Time to crack it
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
17 minutes
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
11 seconds
< 1 second
1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
5 minutes
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
1 second
< 1 second
11 seconds
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
3 hours
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
1 hour
< 1 second
< 1 second
< 1 second
Number of users
4,524,867
4,008,850
1,371,152
1,213,047
969,811
728,414
710,321
528,086
319,725
302,709
240,377
234,187
224,261
191,392
177,725
172,502
168,653
159,354
152,497
146,233
144,262
135,424
122,834
109,908
109,836
105,505
102,054
100,920
99,612
98,743
94,698
90,414
86,921
86,486
83,206
81,390
79,434
79,310
78,452
75,755
73,033
72,444
69,006
68,140
67,957
67,787
65,258
64,597
63,545
62,169
According to NordPass, up to 70 percent of passwords in this year’s global list can be cracked in less than a second.
The company’s independent researchers analyzed password usage in around 35 countries worldwide, while also examining how malware attacks can pose a major threat to people’s safety online.
Once a person’s computer is infected with malware, experts say a person is at risk of losing large amounts of personal information, including passwords and other credentials stored in the browser.
For this reason, people should choose stronger passwords that are harder to crack or use new passkey technology, they added.
Tomas Smalakys, Chief Technology Officer at NordPass, said: “Given the terrible risks faced by password users, alternative methods of online authentication are now essential.”
Lax: The analysis found that people use the weakest passwords for things like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, while the most secure logins are reserved for financial accounts
Hacking Threat: The company’s independent researchers analyzed the use of passwords in around 35 countries worldwide, while also examining how malware attacks can pose a major threat to people’s safety online (stock image)
“Passkey technology, considered the most promising password replacement innovation, is successfully making its way and gaining trust among individuals and progressive companies worldwide.”
“As we are among the first password managers to offer this technology, we see that people are curious to try new things as long as it helps eliminate the hassle of passwords.”
Cyber security expert Jake Moore said: “Bad passwords are often an easy way for hackers to break into accounts, and there are tools to help cybercriminals gain access, such as filling password fields with commonly used passwords.”
“People often enter their passwords on their social media, such as their pet name or their favorite movies.”
He added: “The clever use of two-factor authentication and robust encryption is a far stronger mix than using the same two or three passwords for all accounts.”
Tips to ensure your passwords are secure
1. Deploy a password manager
Password managers allow you to store all passwords in end-to-end encrypted digital storage, locked to a single keyword for maximum convenience. Most password managers have additional features to check the strength of passwords and automatically generate unique passwords. They can be useful for companies when sharing passwords with employees or managing their access.
2. Implement cybersecurity training
Since simple human error remains the leading cause of data breaches, it’s worth investing in cybersecurity training for employees. It might be a good idea to start with the basics, considering that people have different levels of technical knowledge.
3. Enable multi-factor authentication
It is known as MFA and serves as an additional layer of security. It is an authentication method that uses two or more mechanisms to verify the user’s identity – these can be separate apps, security keys, devices or biometric data.
Source: NordPass