A new study has revealed the easiest to guess passwords currently in use – and it looks like we all need a lesson in cybersecurity.
According to research by the National Cyber Security Centre, ‘123456’ was the “most widely-used password on breached accounts” – not surprising, considering how easy it is to guess.
’123456789’ was the second most breached password: amazingly, those four extra characters were not enough to flummox hackers. ‘Qwerty’, ‘password’ and ‘1111111’ finished off the top five. Liverpool and Chelsea were the most guessable football-themed passwords; Blink-182, perhaps a little more surprisingly, was the most breached music-themed password.
The study also found that people were confused and nervous about their online security, with only 15% saying they felt confident about protecting themselves online.
You can also use a password manager to store your passwords, many of which also allow you to create password hashes up to 99 characters long. No chance of remembering that on your own – but not much of a chance your account is going to be breached, either.
You should also use different passwords for different accounts – the NCSC specifically advises creating a “separate, hard to guess password” for your main email account.
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