Passwords are an imperfect but still widespread solution for digital authentication. (A password manager also offers protection against phishing: if you have memorized credentials related to a particular online service, it will refuse to enter them in a lookalike website) Opting to use a password manager to come up with, save, and use a multitude of unique, strong passwords.Regularly checking if any of your passwords has been compromised.Deleting accounts you are not using anymore.Choosing a unique, complex and long password for each account.In regards to passwords, this still means: Nevertheless, users should strive to make the best security choices they can make. Since making secure choices while going about our digital lives is often made difficult by digital gatekeepers, lecturing users on poor password choices seems like a futile endeavor. Being discouraged and thinking that no matter the good security choices they make, some things are out of their hands (think: data breaches and theft of poorly encrypted passwords).Not knowing enough about technology and digital security to make the right choice.There are many reasons, but most of them can be boiled down to users either: Why would anyone who knows what a cryptographic algorithm is chose that particular expression as an (extremely weak) password?īut setting aside these and several other peculiar entries that might suggest these lists – though “compiled in partnership with independent researchers specializing in research of cybersecurity incidents” – do not reflect accurately the situation on the ground, I think there can be no doubt that too many people make poor password choices. Even weirder: number 1 on the Israel top 200 list is “sha256” ( SHA-256 is a hash algorithm/function). For example, number 21 on the top 200 global list is “D1lakiss” (an expression for which no obvious reference can be find online). The various lists also reveal some unusual popular password choices. Also, they like using first names and swear words as passwords.Īs was previously noted by other researchers, language and culture affects how users in different countries choose passwords. The entire list of top 200 most common passwords in 2022 can be viewed here, and the passwords have been also categorized by country to show more localized (poor) choices.Įven a casual survey of each of those lists shows specific tendencies: people choose passwords based on what’s easy (e.g., “qwerty”), what they like (movies, sports, food, fashion brands, artists, etc.), and what’s popular (at the time or in general). Common passwords depend on users’ language and culture According to NordPass’ latest list of top 200 most common passwords in 2022, “password” is the most popular choice, followed by “123456”, “123456789”, “guest” and “ qwerty“.Ģ022 is ending and 2023 is almost upon us, but despite yearly entreaties to users to up their password game, weak and often (re)used passwords are obviously still a problem.
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