A list of the 25 most guessed passwords in 2013 has been released – with “123456” being hacked more than any other.
An unoriginal option, maybe, but it’s proven to be the most common and means last year’s most commonly used password – “password” (ironically) – has been relegated to second place.
Other popular passwords in the running included “abc123,” “111111,” and “letmein”.
The list, which is released annually by SplashData and compiled from files containing millions of stolen passwords, is an attempt to highlight the danger of poor personal security and encourage users to come up with more original, as well as stronger passwords.
So, what can you do in order to keep your computer and valuable information safe at all times?
Think about using long words rather than shorter ones. This gives potential hackers less of a chance when it comes to making an educated guess or just getting lucky.
Using your company name or even the name of the program you are using (Photoshop123) is also a big no-no.
Punctuating passwords with spaces, characters or even symbols is also a good way to stretch out your password and making it less predictable, without it becoming more difficult to remember – “your@name*” for example.
But whatever you choose you should never make life easier for the hacker by keeping your carefully chosen words the same for all accounts. Try to think of something memorable but with different variations for each – just be sure to remember which one is for which.
Below is the full list of the 25 most commonly used passwords – is yours one of them? Perhaps it’s time to change!