When it's about various security measures to be taken in order to protect your Internet security, like installing a good anti-virus or running Linux on your system doesn’t mean that your work gets over here, and you are safe enough from online threats.
However, even after countless warnings, most people are continuously using deadly-simple passwords, like '123456' or 'password,' to safeguard their most sensitive data.
Evidence suggests that weak passwords are as popular now as they ever were, and the top 25 passwords of 2015 are very easy to guess.
Password management firm SplashData on Tuesday released its annual "Worst Passwords List". The 2015 list almost resembled the 2014 list of the worst password, but there are some interesting new entries, including the Star Wars-inspired 'solo,' and 'starwars.'
Hard to believe, but '123456' once again topped the list, just like last year, and again followed by the truly terrible 'password.'
Sport remains popular among online users as 'football' and 'baseball' are both on the top 10 list of worst passwords.
Top 25 Worst Passwords of 2015
SplashData analyzed over 2 Million leaked passwords in 2015, and the results are as follow:
123456
password
12345678
qwerty
12345
123456789
football
1234
1234567
baseball
welcome
1234567890
abc123
111111
1qaz2wsx
dragon
master
monkey
letmein
login
princess
qwertyuiop
solo
passw0rd
starwars
"The longer passwords are so simple as to make their extra length virtually worthless as a security measure," says SplashData
The importance of online security around personal data has increased due to the rise in data breaches and cyber attacks over recent years.
Last year was the year of data breaches. According to an estimate, around 480 Million personal data records were leaked online, which included high-profile breaches at the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the extramarital affair site Ashley Madison.
So remember: "God helps those who help themselves," likewise nobody can secure you online unless and until you are not willing to.
How to Create a Strong Password
Always create different passwords for different sites. So that if one site is breached, your other online accounts on other sites are secure from being hacked.
These are some useful tips that will help you make password strength secure and easier to remember:
Use a combination of lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and special characters of 8 characters long or more like s9%w^8@t$i.
Use short passphrases with special characters separating to make it difficult for crackers and could be easily remembered like cry%like@me (cry like me).
Avoid using the same combination of passwords for different websites.
If it is difficult for you to remember different passwords for different websites, then use Password Manager applications like RoboForm, 1Password, LastPass.
Stay Safe! Stay Secure!
