Worst passwords of 2017: 'Password' and '123456' most popular, sports, Star Wars themes also in the list

Dec 21, 2017 11:41 AM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com

Passwords like ‘qwerty’ (4th place), ‘letmein’ (7th place), admin (11th place), ‘login’ (14th place) and ‘abc123’ (15th place) make the task easy for the hackers

Continuing its streak for the seventh year, ‘123456’ and ‘password’ again topped the worst passwords of the year list released by passwords solutions company SplashData.

Several variations of the first nine digits also feature in the top ten: ‘12345678’ at third place, ‘12345’ at fifth, ‘123456789’ at sixth and ‘1234567’ at eighth place. Variations of ‘password’ like ‘password1’, ‘passwor’ or ‘passw0rd’ make their appearance in top 30.

It is suggested that one should create passwords which are long and not easy to guess. But, going by the list, it seems, people hardly heed the advice. Passwords like ‘qwerty’ (4th place), ‘letmein’ (7th place), admin (11thplace), ‘login’ (14th place) and ‘abc123’ (15th place) make the task easy for the hackers.

Interestingly, Star Wars and sports maintain their charm on the list every year. Even this year, ‘football’, ‘star wars’, Jordan, Jordan23, lakers, ‘ranger’, ‘solo’, ‘princess’, ‘yankees’ and ‘dallas’ make their appearances as the most commonly used passwords.

The annual list by SplashData is published based on millions of leaked passwords posted for sale on the internet by hackers.

How to create a strong password:

In order to protect your identity and business transactions on the web safe, you should always opt for long and strong passwords. According to Google, these are the tips you can follow while creating passwords:

1. Always create passwords of more than eight characters.

2. Avoid using same passwords for all accounts or repeating your previous passwords.

3. Avoid your pet’s name, your nickname or street name in your passwords.

4. Use a mix of alphanumeric characters (letters and numbers) and symbols:

Uppercase (capital) letters. Examples: A, E, R

Lowercase (small) letters. Examples: a, e, r

Numbers. Examples: 2, 6, 7

Symbols and special characters. Examples: ! @ & *

5. You can also follow the following recommendations:

a) Replace letters with numbers & symbols: Choose a word or phrase and use numbers and symbols instead of some letters. Examples:

"Spooky Halloween" becomes "sPo0kyH@ll0w3En"

"Later gator" becomes "L8rg@+0R"

b) Abbreviate a sentence: Come up with a sentence and use the first letter of each word. Example:

"Uncle Peter always ate chocolate-covered everything" becomes "uP@8cCe!"

6. Some websites allow spaces in the passwords. If that is the case, you can use memorable phrases or words from your favourite songs, poetry, or quotes. Example:

"an 0pen <3 = an 0pen MIND"

"It's a long way 2 the ^ if U wanna Rock&Roll"

"From time to time, The clouds give rest To the moon-beholders"