Is Your Computer Password Among the 25 Worst of 2011?
Password management app maker SplashData has released its list of the “worst computer passwords of 2011″ based around the most commonly stolen password data. It should come as no surprise that the password “password” topped the list of no-nos.
Besides the shockingly popular “password” password, sequential number variations like “123456″ also proved quite common and easy to hack.
The only names to crack the top 25 were “Ashley,” “Michael” and “Bailey,” suggesting that there are a lot of people out there who use their own names as passwords. (Or it could be that they’re such memorable names, people are prone to use them as easy-to-remember passwords.) Also, a lot of people think they’re being tricky by using “monkey.” Clearly they’re not.
The entire list is below. If one of these is your password, it’s safe to say you should change it.
1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football
[via PC Mag]