It seems that people will never learn the value of a good password. For all you dolts out there, stop using “password” as your password!
“Password” ranks first on password management application provider SplashData’s annual list of worst internet passwords, which are ordered by how common they are. (“Passw0rd,” with a numeral zero, isn’t much smarter, ranking 18th on the list.)
The list is somewhat predictable: Sequences of adjacent numbers or letters on the keyboard, such as “qwerty” and “123456,” and popular names, such as “ashley” and “michael,” all are common choices. Other common choices, such as “monkey” and “shadow,” are harder to explain.
Here’s the list:
- 1. password
- 2. 123456
- 3.12345678
- 4. qwerty
- 5. abc123
- 6. monkey
- 7. 1234567
- 8. letmein
- 9. trustno1
- 10. dragon
- 11. baseball
- 12. 111111
- 13. iloveyou
- 14. master
- 15. sunshine
- 16. ashley
- 17. bailey
- 18. passw0rd
- 19. shadow
- 20. 123123
- 21. 654321
- 22. superman
- 23. qazwsx
- 24. michael
- 25. football
The company provided some tips for choosing secure passwords in a statement:
- 1. Vary different types of characters in your passwords; include numbers, letters and special characters when possible.
- 2. Choose passwords of eight characters or more. Separate short words with spaces or underscores.
- 3. Don’t use the same password and username combination for multiple websites. Use an online password manager to keep track of your different accounts.
As usual, these tips can save you a lot of aggravation later. The key is to actually implement and not just read about them. If you don’t make your passwords long enough or secure enough, anyone with minimal knowledge will be able to get into your system.


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