Worst Passwords In 2014 Include '123456' and 'Password'

Jonah Hicap Thursday, January 22, 2015

A student uses a notebook computer in this undated file photo. | REUTERS

People are putting themselves at risk of online hacking and identity theft by using simple passwords such as "123456," "password," "qwerty" and "1234."

Splashdata has released its annual list of the 25 most common passwords, making them the "worst passwords" to use.

The company said the data was based on more than 3.3 million leaked passwords in 2014. The passwords were mostly from users in North America and Western Europe.

Topping the list of worst passwords in 2014 was "123456," which also ranked No. 1 in 2013. This was followed by "password," "12345," "12345678," "qwerty," "1234567890," "1234," "baseball," "dragon" and "football."

"Passwords based on simple patterns on your keyboard remain popular despite how weak they are," said Morgan Slain, SplashData CEO. "Any password using numbers alone should be avoided, especially sequences. As more websites require stronger passwords or combinations of letters and numbers, longer keyboard patterns are becoming common passwords, and they are still not secure."

SplashData advised that users should avoid sequence such as "qwertyuiop," the top row of letters on a standard keyboard.

It is also advising against using one's favorite sport or favorite team such as "baseball" and "football," which are in the Top 10, or "hockey," "soccer," "steelers," "lakers" and "yankees."

Using birthdays and baby names as passwords including "michael," "charlie" and "andrews" are also in the top 50 worst passports.

Online security expert Mark Burnett said last year, the top 25 passwords represented about 2.2 percent of passwords exposed. "While still frightening, that's the lowest percentage of people using the most common passwords I have seen in recent studies," he said.

The top 25 worst passwords of 2014 are:

1. 123456 (unchanged from 2013)

2. password (unchanged)

3. 12345 (up 17)

4. 12345678 (down 1)

5. qwerty (down 1)

6. 1234567890 (unchanged)

7. 1234 (up 9)

8. baseball (new)

9. dragon (new)

10. football (new)

11. 1234567 (down 4)