A recent survey by UK government’s Cyber Security Centre (NSCS) has revealed a number of online account passwords that are very vulnerable to be hacked.
Despite advice from cyber security professionals, millions of people continue to use easily-hackable passwords like “123456” and “qwerty” for their online accounts.
According to the report, the password “123456” tops the list of the most breached passwords, with about 23.2 million people worldwide who had their accounts hacked still using it.
Below are the top five passwords revealed in data breaches:
- 123456 (23.2 million users)
- 123456789 (7.7 million users)
- qwerty (3.8 million users)
- password (3.6 million users)
- 111111 (3.1 million users)
Also topping the list of commonly-used passwords were the names Ashley, Michael and Daniel, the names of fictional characters Superman, Naruto and Tigger, band names including Blink182, 50Cent and Eminem.
Liverpool topped the table of premier League Football clubs used as passwords, with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United (“manutd”) making up the rest of the top four. Mnachester City (“mancity”), by contrast, would finish 11th place in the Premier League password standings.
The Dallas Cowboys (“cowboys1”) was the most popular NFL team nickname, while Sunday was the most used day of the week and August the most common month.
“Making good password choices is the single biggest control consumers have over their own personal security posture. Recognising the passwords that are most likely to result in a successful account takeover is an important first step in helping people create a more secure online presence.”
Hunt said in a statement.
Cyber security expert advises
“We understand that cyber security can feel daunting to a lot of people, but the NCSC has published lots of easily applicable advice to make you much less vulnerable,” Dr. Ian Levy, NSCS technical director, said in a statement.
“Password re-use is a major risk that can be avoided — nobody should protect sensitive data with something that can be guessed, like their first name, local football team or favourite band,”
Dr. Ian Levy stated.
According to the NSCS, individuals should use a strong, separate password for each online account, and can create a strong password by stringing together three random words using numbers and symbols.
By Edward Kyei Frimpong
