Avoid these 25 passwords if your data is precious

By Sarah Morgan

Many people make the mistake of using the same password for multiple accounts, including banking logins, social media profiles and e-shopping credentials. However, when that password is also ridiculously easy to guess, well that may unleash a data disaster.

Each year, SplashData releases its Top 25 list of most common passwords, also known as the “Worst Passwords of the Year”. This year’s compilation features a “great” victory, as ‘123456’ has finally claimed the #1 spot and forced ‘password’ to take the silver medal.

SplashData's "Worst Passwords of 2013":

Rank	Password	Change from 2012
1	123456	Up 1
2	password	Down 1
3	12345678	Unchanged
4	qwerty	Up 1
5	abc123	Down 1
6	123456789	New
7	111111	Up 2
8	1234567	Up 5
9	iloveyou	Up 2
10	adobe123	New
11	123123	Up 5
12	admin	New
13	1234567890	New
14	letmein	Down 7
15	photoshop	New
16	1234	New
17	monkey	Down 11
18	shadow	Unchanged
19	sunshine	Down 5
20	12345	New
21	password1	Up 4
22	princess	New
23	azerty	New
24	trustno1	Down 12
25	000000	New

According to SplashData, this year's list was influenced by the large number of passwords from Adobe users posted online by security consulting firm Stricture Consulting Group following Adobe's well publicized security breach. The company advises consumers or businesses using any of the passwords on the list to change them immediately.

Suggestions how to make your passwords more secure:

Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters. However, even passwords with common substitutions like "3xc3ll3nt" can be vulnerable to attackers' increasingly sophisticated technology, and random combinations like "gr%7Jr5$" can be difficult to remember. One way to create more secure passwords that are easy to recall is to use passphrases - short words with spaces or other characters separating them. It's best to use random words rather than common phrases. For example, "cats cheese balloon" or "music_darkness_boom?"

As highlighted earlier, avoid using the same credentials for multiple websites. It’s very risky to use the same password for social networking or financial service sites. Use different passwords for each new website or service you sign up for.

Watch the following video for PCMag's take on the worst passwords for 2013 - starts at 3:53.  

About the Author:       
Sarah writes for Firebrand Training on a number of IT related topics. This includes exams, training, certification trends, project management, certification, careers advice and the industry itself. Sarah has 11 years of experience in the IT industry.