The media constantly reports stories concerning data breaches for some of the biggest entities in retail in the U.S. We have no control over the passwords set up by industry insiders to protect confidential consumer data. However, we can protect ourselves by monitoring our personal accounts and utilizing strong passwords. SplashData recently released the Worst Passwords of 2015, and it should come as no surprise that millions of Americans continue using poor, easy-to-guess passwords.
Counting Is Good, But Not For Passwords
Each year, SplashData collects the most commonly used passwords that were part of known data breaches within the previous year, and the ludicrous nature of some of these passwords will shock and surprise you. You may have been under the impression that you are the only person who has thought to use an extensive list of consecutive numbers as a strong password, but in reality, nine out of the top 25 worst passwords consisted of consecutive, numeric passwords.
In addition to the numeric abominations, two different sporting events and several animals took their place on the list: alongside some passwords comprised of following the letters on the keyboard. It appears as though everyone realized that consecutive numbers were too simple. Therefore, they began using consecutive letters or a combination of consecutive letters and numbers as a password. Of course, we cannot forget the perhaps the most ill-fated password: letmein. Obviously, many people with a malicious intention will want to get into your account, and you need to make sure they have a difficult time at least.
The Worst Passwords of 2015
Fortunately, the “iloveyou” password craze for Valentine’s day appears to have passed, and many other passwords have changed places on the list. Common superheroes names have even made it onto the list for the first time in history. Believe it or not, the two, most common passwords retained their places on the top of the list from last year.Let us take a look at the worst passwords of 2015:
- 123456
- password
- 12345
- 12345678
- qwerty
- 123456789
- 1234
- baseball
- dragon
- football
- 1234567
- monkey
- letmein
- abc123
- 111111
- mustang
- access
- shadow
- master
- michael
- superman
- 696969
- 123123
- batman
- trustno1
What You Should Do
You need to change your password if you have used any of the passwords on this list. Furthermore, slang and cuss words all made it onto the Top 100 Worst Passwords List. If you have thought that a simple, witty password will keep hackers at bay, think again. It is only a matter of time before you become the victim of a hack. You can strengthen your password by following some of the best tips. However, we must say that you SHOULD NOT use an exact copy of strong password examples found online as your password.
