Your password may be easily hacked

Although they help safeguard some of our most private information, passwords are sometimes not that private in the first place, which makes them quite simple to crack.

A firm called NordPass, which assists users in creating and maintaining password security, released its yearly list of popular passwords, and it reveals that a lot of them lack originality.

In order to evaluate 4.3 gigabytes of data obtained from publically accessible sources, NordPass teamed up with independent researchers; the business claimed that no personal information was obtained in the process. The business discovered that the most popular passwords are frequently sequences of numbers after analyzing data from 35 countries and eight different types of platforms.

“123456,” the most frequent, was tallied more than 4.5 million times. It takes less than a second to crack, according to NordPass. The password “admin” has been cracked more than 4 million times and is equally easily guessed. Next are often occurring sequences of numbers such as “12345678,” “1234,” or – as though it made a big difference – “123456789.”

Words like “password,” which can still be cracked in under a second, and “UKNOWN,” which takes 17 minutes, are also included in the list. “P@ssw0rd” isn’t getting inventive, despite what you may think. 135,424 counts later, it still takes less than a second to crack. “P@ssw0rd” isn’t getting inventive, despite what you may think. 135,424 counts later, it still takes less than a second to crack.

Numerous numbers make up the majority of the most popular passwords on the list. How about a string of letters instead? The password “qwertyuiop” is generated when you drag your finger across the upper line of characters on your keyboard. It has been cracked 79,434 times in less than a second.

In addition, NordPass filters its password database by nation. Common suspects such as “123456,” “password,” and “admin” are at the top of the list in the United States. The 16th most popular password, “sh**bird,” could surprise you, though. The password has been cracked in five minutes and has been counted 4,230 times.

According to NordPass, several platforms can have an impact on users’ password habits. Surprise! The fourth most popular password for e-commerce websites, such as Amazon, is… “amazon.”

One of the most popular passwords for streaming websites is “netflix.” When compared to other websites, NordPass claims that streaming sites have the least secure passwords.

The patterns in NordPass’s report for this year don’t deviate much from those in previous years. “12345” and “password” are two of the most used passwords.

According to NordPass, although password breaches are becoming more difficult due to technological advancements, malware attacks are still a risk. They advise making 20 character strong passwords that combine capital and lowercase letters. Additionally, it’s advisable to set unique passwords for each platform and avoid using birthdays or other information that can be easily guessed. SOURCE: BY CAITLIN O’KANE, CBS NEWS