“guest” beat out “123456” to be the most popular password among Americans in 2022. Simple combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols, such as “a1b2c3,” “abc123,” or “qwerty,” are highly popular in the US.
Most hackable passwords
Second came “123456” followed by the slightly longer “123456789.” Rounding out the top five were “guest” and “qwerty.” Most of those log-ins can be cracked in less than a second.
A strong password is a unique word or phrase a hacker cannot easily guess or crack. Here are the main traits of a reliable, secure password: At least 12 characters long (the longer, the better). Has a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, and special symbols.
A strong password is: At least 12 characters long but 14 or more is better. A combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Not a word that can be found in a dictionary or the name of a person, character, product, or organization.
What is considered a strong password? Instead of common words that are easy to guess, essential components of a secure password include sufficient length and a mix of special characters, numbers, and uppercase and lowercase letters.
Does 1Password have a free version? 1Password is free to try for 14 days, so you have plenty of time to decide if it's right for you. At the end of your free 14-day trial, you can choose a plan that best suits your needs.
Secure Encryption
1Password uses AES 256-bit encryption, which banks and governments around the world also use. This means your passwords are secure, and the likeliness of someone trying to hack your account head-on is extremely unlikely.
(Although, as Data Genetics acknowledges, you probably shouldn't go out and choose “8068” now that this is public information.) Rounding out the bottom five are “8093,” “9629,” “6835,” and “7637,” which all nearly as rare.
Weak passwords are those that are easily guessed by unauthorized users. Examples include “1234”, “password”, “temp”, etc. A weak password poses security risks at two levels—it may enable unauthorized access to confidential information, and may potentially enable an unauthorized user to compromise the system.
Kevin Mitnick holds the title as the world's most famous hacker ever, with this title dating back to 1995 by the US Department of Justice. Kevin Mitnick started hacking at an early age. He broke into the realm of public attention in the 1980s after he hacked into the North American Defense Command (NORAD).
-Don't use easily guessed passwords, such as “password” or “user.” -Do not choose passwords based upon details that may not be as confidential as you'd expect, such as your birth date, your Social Security or phone number, or names of family members. -Do not use words that can be found in the dictionary.
After examining 56 million breached and leaked passwords in 2023, the Cybernews research team discovered the password “123456” was used in 111,417 cases.
Cybersecurity experts recommend changing your password every three months. There may even be situations where you should change your password immediately, especially if a cybercriminal has access to your account.
Choose a password with eight characters or more and a mix of different character types. Don't use names, words found in a dictionary, phone numbers, dates, or simple combinations of these. Avoid using a pattern of keyboard characters, such a series of keys in a straight or diagonal row.