Millions of people at risk of data breaches due to using common passwords, research finds

Millions of people around the world are continuing to use passwords such as “12345” and “password” despite the increasing risk of data breaches and cyberattacks.

Research conducted by an investigative team from Cybernews has found that of more than 15 billion publicly leaked passwords it analysed, only 2 billion were considered unique.

The password “123456” was the most commonly used password, with “123456789”, “qwerty”, “password” and “12345” all featuring in the top five.

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Almost ten million people used the year 2010 in their password, followed by 1987 and 1991.

“The spike in 2010 usage in passwords could indicate parents whose child was born in that specific year or other special occasions,” Cybernews said.

It also said a steady increase in the usage of years from 1940 to 1990 could directly relate to when the password creators were born.

Alex was found to be the most popular name, with over 7 million people featuring it in their passwords.

Darcie and Darcey were found to be the least popular names.

Over 152 million people used a curse word in their password, while 42 million internet users included the name of a type of food or beverage.

Cybernews’ research found that most of the passwords used were made up of eight characters or fewer, making it easier for hackers to crack.

In order to create a safe and secure password, Cybernews said it needed to be as unique and complex as possible.

“The best passwords are the ones that you don’t need to remember at all,” it said.

Because of this, Cybernews recommended that people use password managers, like NordPass, to simplify the process.

“These easy-to-use tools will create very complex passwords for you that you don’t even have to remember,” it said.

“They mostly come as browser extensions that will create or fill in your usernames and passwords for you.”

Cybernews urged people with passwords that are the same or similar to the ones they analysed to visit its data leak checker to check if any of their personal information has been exposed.

Cybernews’ top 10 most common passwords:

1. 123456
2. 123456789
3. qwerty
4. password
5. 12345
6. qwerty123
7. 1q2w3e
8. 12345678
9. 111111
10. 1234567890