The most popular passwords used in 2021 have been disclosed, and to say they are embarrassing would be an understatement.
According to a new survey from NordPass, a firm that offers a password management tool, a concerning number of customers continue to utilize incredibly weak passwords.
According to the top 200 most frequent passwords of 2021 research, which covers 50 nations, “123456” is the most used password for the second year in a row. Despite the fact that cracking it would take less than a second, it is used by over 103 million people.
Other widely used passwords in the top ten list primarily comprise of number-based passes such as “123456789,” which is used by 46 million people. “Qwerty” and, of course, “password” are the only two that do not have a numerical equivalent. They are used by a total of 22.3 million and 20.9 million users, respectively.
In terms of other terrible password selections, a “surprising” number of respondents chose their own names as their preferred password. In terms of weak passwords, Ferrari and Porsche are the most popular automobile brands.
Unfortunately, passwords continue to deteriorate, and people continue to disregard appropriate password hygiene.
While the vast majority of the top 200 most frequent passwords can be cracked in less than a second — or a few seconds in some situations — there are a few that would take much longer. It would take three hours to crack “1g2w3e4r” and “gwerty123,” which are both used by a million individuals. Removing the “123” from “gwerty” makes it a lot simpler target, as it only takes five seconds to crack.
“michelle,” “jennifer,” “myspace1,” and “zag12wsx” round out the list of passwords that will take between 1-3 hours to crack.
NordPass’ process for developing their findings included collaboration with independent academics that specialize in cybersecurity incident investigation. The most frequent password list was generated by analyzing a 4TB collection of leaked passes.
“Unfortunately, passwords are becoming weaker, and many are still failing to practice basic password hygiene,” NordPass CEO Jonas Karklys told Lifewire. “It’s critical to recognize that passwords are the entrance to our digital life, and as we spend more and more time online, it’s becoming increasingly necessary to improve our cybersecurity.”
Resolving the issue
So, how does one go about adding additional layers of security to their passwords to make them more secure? It goes without saying that no one should use “123456” as an account entry point — or any of the passwords in the aforementioned report for that matter. Password managers have grown ubiquitous and are usually a safe bet, but two-factor authentication should also be considered as an extra layer of security.
When security flaws are taken into account, passwords are undoubtedly the most popular target for hackers. In fact, weak or stolen passwords account for 81% of all hacking-related breaches.
“Bad passwords are still the single most common security issue today.”
“The bulk of assaults on commercial and consumer accounts begin with weak passwords.” “Every second, there are 579 password attacks – that’s 18 billion per year,” Microsoft said in September.
Meanwhile, Apple has implemented a newer form of technology into its devices via iCloud Passkey, which effectively eliminates passwords and provides a more secure procedure via Public Key Cryptography.
Apple, like Microsoft and Google, sees a future with passwordless authentication. Microsoft, for example, has already enabled passwordless login for its services for over 200 million users.
In May, Jen Fitzpatrick, Google’s senior vice president of core systems, claimed, “The single most prevalent security issue today is still poor passwords.” “Ultimately, we want to build a future without passwords.”