Internet Insecurity: The 25 Worst Passwords of 2011

    By Sheryl Nance-Nash
    Posted 11:30AM 11/15/11 Posted under: Technology, Crime
    Internet Insecurity: The 25 Worst Passwords of 2011You've got locks on your doors and maybe even an alarm system guarding your home. But all that stands between criminals and your bank account information is the word "password." Sound familiar? "Password," "123456" and, weirdly, "monkey" are among the 25 worst passwords of the year, according to SplashData, a private company that sells security services and password software.

    SplashData compiled its list -- released Monday -- from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers.
    How often do you change your passwords?
    Once a month.1500 (10.9%)
    Twice a year.1621 (11.8%)
    Once a year.1921 (13.9%)
    I never change them.8264 (59.9%)
    480 (3.5%)
    And despite all the fancy technology available to hackers, when it comes to breaking and entering, they'll still go for the low-hanging fruit, starting with easy passwords like these.

    Here's a tip for creating a more secure password: Make it eight characters or more, and use multiple types of characters -- upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols. (For more tips, read DailyFinance's article on how to create safe, memorable passwords.)

    25 Worst Passwords of the Year

    1. password

    2. 123456

    3. 12345678

    4. qwerty

    5. abc123

    6. monkey

    7. 1234567

    8. letmein

    9. trustno1

    10. dragon

    11. baseball

    12. 111111

    13. iloveyou

    14. master

    15. sunshine

    16. ashley

    17. bailey

    18. passwOrd

    19. shadow

    20. 123123

    21. 654321

    22. superman

    23. qazwsx

    24. michael

    25. football



    Tagged: computers, cybersecurity, hackers, hacking, internet security, InternetSecurity, online, passwords, splashdata, worst passwords, WorstPasswords

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    69 Comments

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    cjcfleur

    The only person on the face of the earth that could figure out my password is my husband, but of course he knows it. Even those closest to me could not figure it out. It is one thing to know something about a person and guess what a password might have in it, say cat, and another thing to figure out the entire thing in the right order, caps or not, numbers or not, and so on, and be able to do it in the 3-4 trys before the program throws you out. :)

    April 20 2012 at 4:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
    netexas121

    These are probably passwords of Republicans. Heres another, 2dumb2noit

    November 21 2011 at 7:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
    1 reply to netexas121's comment
    knightowl057

    I wonder how the liberal's favorite "yourpaycheckbelongstome666" didn't make the list.

    April 23 2012 at 5:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
    iceburner911

    Thumbs up if you just changed your password to "monkey" XD

    November 21 2011 at 7:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
    northlandzentai

    awebuser: there is no need to change your password all the time unless you have been attacked. (Note that this comes from Security Now). The reason to change your password often is to prevent people who know it from using it. think about it though, if someone knows your password, are they going to wait 7 months or are they going to use it ASAP? All that changing your password does is give you something new to memorize.

    Chess Piece Face: symbols are a good idea as they are what add entropy. In a 5 character using all lower case gives at minimum 5 bits per character, or a 25 bit string. using upper, lower, numbers and symbols gives about 7 bits per character or a 35 bit string. By saying only letters are allowed you are limiting the amount of entropy for a given length, and increasing the chance of a password being cracked. (This is also from Security Now)

    November 21 2011 at 7:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
    Business Card

    don't be important enough for someone to even try and guess your password to get into your stuff. problem solved.

    November 21 2011 at 6:29 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
    rkenzie247

    The best password is something thats got nothing to do with you ! Look aound your office, something you see all day , or smell, and use it , I work with machinery, so I would use Musty under arms 8 ! Noone will get that one !!!

    November 21 2011 at 5:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
    randy4johnson

    Funny answers, anyway! Exactly like my vote...

    November 21 2011 at 1:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
    Koz

    I have never changed my password, cause nobody can figure it out. I have 4 depending on security level.
    They have nothing to do with anytng that would be public info.
    They are very personal, so a hacker would neec to know me very well.
    Even my best buddy could not figure them out.

    November 21 2011 at 10:07 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
    awebuser

    I cannot believe there are still people in this world who fail to thingk of a secure password. Your poll is also very interesting that over 60% of people don't change their password ever. If people were more informed about internet security issues I think they would think twice. You can find out more here: http://www.antivirus-buyability.co.uk/products-reviews/internet-security/

    November 21 2011 at 12:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
    Chess Piece Face

    Really? Advising people to use special characters?
    Read this:
    http://xkcd.com/936/
    Now let's get more websites set up to allow 24 character passwords and NOT require special characters

    November 20 2011 at 7:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply