Most Common Passwords in the World Full Guide

Every year, several data breaches expose millions of accounts to hackers.

These hackers then try different combinations of logins and passwords on the accounts to get access to them.

If the combinations work, the hackers then steal the victims’ personal and financial information. 

With this in mind, let’s look at the most common passwords in the world. 

What Are the Common Passwords?

In 2019, researchers at SplashData, a developer of password management software, published the 18th annual edition of its list of the most popular passwords.

The website collected the data by running its Password Strength Checker tool on 1.3 billion passwords, collected from more than 1 million websites.

SplashData used a password strength calculator created by software developer Rob Shavell, who originally developed the software in 2006.

What makes the software particularly useful is that it scores passwords based on an algorithm that takes into account the number of characters, the mix of upper- and lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers, and the number of locations where they appear.

The resulting scores range from 0 to 1000, with 1000 being the strongest.

The Importance of Having a Strong and Unique Password

Passwords are the first layer of security on any website, and hackers use password brute force attacks to crack them.

When a password is weak or is facing brute force attacks, your accounts can become vulnerable to attackers. Your passwords are your first line of defense against cybercriminals, so it’s important to choose strong and unique passwords for all your online accounts.

THE IMPACT OF WEAK PASSWORDS

Email, social networking, and banking account passwords are some of the most popular targets for cybercriminals. That’s because the credentials from these accounts are often used for fraudulent activity.

Phishing scams trick you into logging in with your credentials to a fake website. Once you’ve entered your credentials, the cybercriminals can use your account to access other sensitive information.

The impact of this type of cyberattack is devastating. From stolen identity and finances to compromising your sensitive information, these attacks can ruin your life in an instant.

Best Practices for Creating a Secure Password

A strong password is one that is:
– Unique; no two accounts should have the same password.
– Long; the longer the better.
– Contains upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers, and special characters.
– Not easy to guess.

Here are a few best practices to remember when creating a secure password:

1. Try to use a password that is unique for each of your accounts and is hard to guess.
2. Use a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters, such as:

– a+d
– qwerty!
– iloveyou

3. Create and use a password generator.
4. Mix up your passwords.
5. Keep your password safe.
6. Use different passwords for different accounts.
7. Never write down your passwords and keep them in a password manager.

How to Strengthen Your Current Password

There are six main steps to creating a secure password:

1. Use a unique password
2. Create a unique password for every account
3. Avoid using common and predictable passwords
4. Change passwords periodically
5. Do not use the same password on multiple sites
6. Use a password manager

The unique password is the most important aspect of creating a strong password. A password that has meaning to you, or that you recognize easily, is less likely to be guessed.

Most websites require a password between six and 12 characters long. Of course, the longer the password, the harder it is to guess.

Most websites also support special characters. Including special characters in your password makes them more difficult to crack. For example, consider your password “123456”.

Now replace each letter with the corresponding number. The result is “12345678”.

Now replace each number with the corresponding letter. The result is “l123456”.

This is a much stronger password that is also harder to guess.

The Impact of Weak Passwords on Online Security

If a hacker breaks into your personal email account and gains access to your email inbox, they can then read every email you’ve sent and received.

And, if you used the same password for your email account as you do for your banking account, the hacker will have access to your bank account as well.

The hacker can also use the password gained into one of your account to break into other accounts.

That’s why it’s so important to create unique, strong passwords for each of your online accounts.

Popular Password Manager Solutions

The best password management software offers more than just strong encryption and autofill features.

It should also be easy to integrate with other password management tools.

For instance, LastPass offers a browser extension that integrates with all major browsers and password managers.

This allows users to add notes to their passwords, generate passwords automatically, and sync their passwords across devices.

Firefox users can install the LastPass Password Manager and sync their passwords across devices and browsers.

The KeePass password manager helps users create and manage passwords securely.

The KeePass password manager has a free version that users can connect to multiple computers and devices.

The paid version costs $29.95 per year and is available in Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The Danger of Using the Same Password for Multiple Accounts

Using the same password for many different accounts can be risky, but it’s not always easy to spot.

For example, you might have the same password for your email, Phishing Protection , and online banking.

If the password for your email is leaked, then someone could create a fake login page and pretend to be your bank.

Using the same password across multiple accounts also makes it more likely for someone to gain control over your accounts.

They might try logging into your email, for example, and then use the password they have from that account to log into your Phishing Protection accounts.

FAQ

Hopefully this guide for most common passwords in the world was helpful for you.