To keep yourself and your data safe online, we’ve compiled a list of common passwords that you should avoid while setting up your accounts online. We’ll also walk you through some tips for choosing stronger, more secure passwords.
The Most Common Passwords You Should Never Use
Why should you care? You might figure that you’re unlikely to get hacked, but Forbes reports that the average number of cyberattacks and data breaches in 2021 increased by a whopping 15.1 percent from the previous year. Everyone and anyone can be a target of hackers.
If you use any of these passwords (or even something similar), you need to change them immediately:
123456 Password 12345678 Qwerty 123456789 12345 111111 1234567 123123 Qwerty123 1q2w3e 1234567890 DEFAULT Abc123 654321 123321 Qwertyuiop Iloveyou 666666
These are from data in a new report from mobile security firm Lookout, as reported by CNBC. Those passwords are most commonly found in dark web lists and data breaches.
Apart from these security minefields, you also want to avoid other weak passwords, which are typically those that contain personal information like family and friends’ names; the birthdays of your child, partner, or pet; places (e.g your childhood neighborhood); or your favorite movies, hobbies, or celebrities. Hackers are familiar with these trends, and will use brute force tactics like password spraying to guess login credentials and gain access to an account.
How to Create Stronger Passwords
One way to protect yourself online and avoid being the victim of cyberattacks is to choose unique, hard-to-guess passwords. The quirkier, the better: choose a string of characters that’s born out of highly personal information, and then add a twist to it. For example, you could use an acronym of all the first letters of your favorite movie title and tagline, and add some numeric characters from the date of your first trip out of the country. No password is infallible, but that kind of combination would be really hard to crack.
There are plenty of ways to create unbreakable but memorable passwords, so think outside the box.
And actually, you don’t even have to worry about forgetting the complex passwords you come up with, since there are great password managers that will do the job of storing and managing them for you.
You shouldn’t use the same password for numerous accounts either: if you do, that password could be compromised on one site and could allow cybercriminals access elsewhere. Be unique!
Stay Safe Online
Online security is something that we have to fight to protect. Arm yourself with information and defenses that ensure your safety online. It doesn’t have to be a complicated process: just pick some strong passwords and your first line of defence is in place.
