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25 of the most common passwords – is it time to rethink yours?

By Matt - Quarter 1 - 2015

Splashdata, the web security firm has just released its annual list of the 25 most common passwords – with 123456 taking the top spot for the second year running!

Password security has been a hot topic for several years now, with things slowly improving over time as people get used to the idea that good ‘password hygiene’ is genuinely very important. Online security expert and author of Perfect Passwords (http://www.xato.net), Mark Burnett who worked with SplashData to collate the list, commented:

“The bad news from my research is that this year's most commonly used passwords are pretty consistent with prior years,\" Burnett said. \"The good news is that it appears that more people are moving away from using these passwords. In 2014, the top 25 passwords represented about 2.2% of passwords exposed. While still frightening, that's the lowest percentage of people using the most common passwords I have seen in recent studies.\"

SplashData's ‘Worst Passwords of 2014’:

Three simple tips to be safer from hackers online:

1. Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters.

2. Avoid using the same username/password combination for multiple websites.

3. Use a password manager such as SplashID or LastPass to organise and protect passwords, generate random passwords, and automatically log into websites.