LONDON (TIP): Internet security firm SplashData has released its list of the worst passwords of 2013. King of terrible passwords, ‘password’, has finally been unseated from its throne. It has been displaced by ‘123456’ as the world’s most popular worst password. This year’s list was influenced by the large number of passwords from Adobe users posted online by security consulting firm Stricture Consulting Group following Adobe’s well-publicized security breach.
“Seeing passwords like ‘adobe123’ and ‘photoshop’ on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing,” says Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData. SplashData’s list of frequently-used passwords shows that many people continue to put themselves at risk by using weak passwords. Some other passwords in the Top 10 include ‘qwerty,’ ‘abc123,’ ‘111111,’ and ‘iloveyou’. SplashData’s top 25 was compiled from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online during the previous year.
The company advises consumers or businesses using any of the passwords on the list to change them immediately. SplashData suggests making passwords more secure with these tips: “Use passwords of eight characters or more using mixed characters. But even passwords with common substitutions like ‘dr4mat1c’ can be vulnerable to attackers’ increasingly-sophisticated technology, and random combinations like ‘j%7K&yPx$’ can be difficult to remember.