SplashData creates an annual list of worst Internet passwords of the year by tracking stolen passwords posted online by hackers. Shockingly enough, “password” is ranked #1.
Mashable’s has more 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 full list in ranking order:
1. password
2. 123456
3.12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1 – ironic
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine – ahhh, sweet
16. ashley
17. bailey – really??
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx – interesting!
24. michael
25. football
Hackers try all of these “gimmies’ first, so if any of these passwords are something you use, I think it would be wise to change it immediately. Today, especially, it’s so much easier. While I don’t do it myself, you can save all your passwords directly on your browser. I prefer to just have a list of passwords set aside for everything.
Gizmodo reports that the list is fairly similar to previous years, so the common passwords hackers try haven’t changed that much.