SplashData releases an annual list which outlines the most commonly used AND the worst passwords used on the internet. If any of your passwords are on this list we HIGHLY recommend you get to changing it today! Are your passwords really protected?
3.3 million leaked passwords make up the research body for this list. Year after year, the top worst and most common passwords continue to be “password” and “123456”.
“Passwords based on simple patterns on your keyboard remain popular despite how weak they are. Any password using numbers alone should be avoided, especially sequences. As more websites require stronger passwords or combinations of letters and numbers, longer keyboard patterns are becoming common passwords, and they are still not secure.” – Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData.
Some tips from the review to assist you in creating better passwords to protect your identity are:
- Never use a favorite sport as your password – “baseball” and “football” are in top 10, and “hockey,” “soccer” and “golfer” are in the top 100.
- Don’t use a favorite team either, as “yankees,” “eagles,” “steelers,” “rangers,” and “lakers” are all in the top 100.
- Don’t use your birthday or especially just your birth year — 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992 are all in the top 100.
- While baby name books are popular for naming children, don’t use them as sources for picking passwords. Common names such as “michael,” “jennifer,” “thomas,” “jordan,” “hunter,” “michelle,” “charlie,” “andrew,” and “daniel” are all in the top 50.
- Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters.
- Avoid using the same username/password combination for multiple websites.
- Use a password manager such as SplashID to organize and protect passwords, generate random passwords, and automatically log into websites.
Additionally, here’s SplashData’s “Worst Passwords of 2014”:
| Rank | Password | Change from 2013 |
| 1 | 123456 | No Change |
| 2 | password | No Change |
| 3 | 12345 | Up 17 |
| 4 | 12345678 | Down 1 |
| 5 | qwerty | Down 1 |
| 6 | 123456789 | No Change |
| 7 | 1234 | Up 9 |
| 8 | baseball | New |
| 9 | dragon | New |
| 10 | football | New |
| 11 | 1234567 | Down 4 |
| 12 | monkey | Up 5 |
| 13 | letmein | Up 1 |
| 14 | abc123 | Down 9 |
| 15 | 111111 | Down 8 |
| 16 | mustang | New |
| 17 | access | New |
| 18 | shadow | Unchanged |
| 19 | master | New |
| 20 | michael | New |
| 21 | superman | New |
| 22 | 696969 | New |
| 23 | 123123 | Down 12 |
| 24 | batman | New |
| 25 | trustno1 | Down 1 |
