We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
IF YOU HAPPEN to use 123456 as your password, you may want to change it now.
SplashData has released its annual list of the worst passwords out there, based on files containing over 3.3 million leaked passwords in 2014, and compared to last year, not a lot has changed.
Some of the worst ones only use numbers, five of the top ten worst passwords were variations of the 123456 kind, while others were more predictable with password, qwerty, and football doing the rounds.
With the numerous security issues that happened last year with Sony, eBay and other companies, people may be feeling a little anxious about whether their accounts are protected.
Most compromises happen because of poor passwords like the ones below so you really have no excuse to be using them unless you really want someone to access your info easily.
1) 123456
2) password
3) 12345
4) 12345678
5) qwerty
6) 123456789
7) 1234
8) baseball
9) dragon
10) football
11) 1234567
12) monkey
13) letmein
14) abc123
15) 111111
16) mustang
17) access
18) shadow
19) master
20) michael
21) superman
22) 696969
23) 123123
24) batman
25) trustno1
So if you have a password (or passwords) that are similar to the ones above, what should you do?
The first thing is to change it immediately to something more complex. Use phrases, include different characters (capital letters, symbols, etc.) and don’t settle for the minimum requirements.
If you have numerous accounts, it’s really better to use a password manager like 1Password, LastPass or KeePass to keep all of your passwords secure. The benefit to using these is you can make your passwords as complex as possible, but only need to remember one to access the password manager.
It’s also recommended that you activate two-step verification as a way of adding extra security to your account. This requires you to use a random password sent to your phone as well to access your account on top of the usual username/password requirements.
It may take a few minutes, but better safe than sorry.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
stolen
Phew im safe , Harry Potter 12345 isn’t on the list ….
Jayz Dave same as mine
Marilynmonroeschacha’s. Safe as houses
If your password is ’12345,’ you don’t deserve the Internet..
na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na PASSWORD!
I mean LEADER! I love the leader!
696969 hehehe!!!
Jaysus, “Leitrim” at number 13!
Look Marge, there’s a country called Uaregay ….
The Journal will now test the strength of your password. Type it in below to begin test.
it
it in, actually
It in below …
it in, actually
Dunno, doesn’t seem to be working.
●●●●●●●●●●●●●
lol standard and easy one is Pa$$w0rd… surprised its not on the list
At least the Journal have good security to protect their users. If you type your passwords into the comments section it is blanked out: ************
My password is Incorrect plus 2 letters and 2 numbers. …
A good example of a password is one like this:
Two*16EqualsThirty2
Have to laugh at the article,
Your password is insecure
But give it to one of these 3companies theyll keep it safe !!!! By the way mine I Endaisac__t!!!
You don’t give them your passwords, they’re stored on your devices in an encrypted file. If you choose, you can sync across multiple devices by backing up the file to iCloud or Dropbox, but it is still encrypted.
You should use a passphrase rather than password. The longer it is the greater the entropy. The greater the entropy the harder it is to crack.
Mine is. Toomanypasswords.
NSAgo@way
I use ***********
Jimmy Kimmel show found it easy enough to obtain passwords
What is Your Password?: http://youtu.be/opRMrEfAIiI
1st letter should always be a capital letter, then use at least 7 more letters and finish with 2 or 3 numbers. It is a nuisance having loads of different passwords but, especially since they have to be changed every 8 – 10 weeks…
If you say first letter should always be capital – are you not automatically weaken your password by giving a clue of a pattern my Einstein? :)
Dont forget the secret handshake. Safe as houses then.
Best way of creating a secure password is to think of a song with six words in the title and use the first letter of each word. Presto.
Six characters, even random ones, is not a long enough password any more, because better computing power means it can be cracked in a few seconds. You need at least 12, and 20 would be ideal. Password managers like the ones mentioned in the article, allow you to have unique-for-each-login, a 20-character passwords like LDg7kN0pGt@7imZh+wWZ and you never need to enter them, they’re entered automatically.
Read #13 as let mein…
Surprised ” admin” wasn’t on the list?
Musical notes are great. Pick a favourite song and use the notes/chords from the first line
8) Baseball
Slightly regionally skewed data.
I was using 123456 before it was cool.
I use “password” as my password for any site I don’t trust and don’t care about. The list doesn’t take that into consideration. Anything worth securing has a decent password on it.
I have had Luv2Laf12 before so strong
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say