Protection Smomection
Every account you have is built to be password protected. However, that “protection” can only go so far as we see accounts getting hacked into day in and day out.
This is why each time we create a new account on some website or app, the requirements for passwords grow increasingly more complicated. You need capital letters, a number, a special character, and the tears of a clown in order to generate a strong password.
Simple isn’t always best
Sometimes, even all of that is not enough. And, while we’ve likely all be victims of one account or another being hacked into, many of us still opt for simple passwords that make it easy for us to remember.
Keeper Security has released a list of the 25 most commonly used passwords in 2016. Take a quick scan to make sure the password protecting all of your life savings isn’t on this list.
The 25 Most Commonly Used Passwords in 2016
1. 123456
2. 123456789
3. Qwerty
4. 12345678
5. 111111
6. 1234567890
7. 1234567
8. password
9. 123123
10. 987654321
11. Qwertyuiop
12. Mynoob
13. 123321
14. 666666
15. 18atckd2w
16. 7777777
17. 1q2w3e4r
18. 654321
19. 555555
20. 3rjs1la7qe
21. google
22. 1q2w3e4r5t
23. 123qwe
24. zxcvbnm
25. 1q2w3e
Use new methods
Now, it’s completely understandable that many of us like to use variations of the same password for all of our accounts (mainly because there are so darn many of them). But, we either have to think outside of the box or use new strategies to keep ourselves more protected.
An extra measure that can be taken for password protection is implementing a password generator/organizer such as 1Password. This keeps your passwords in one safe place. This is the most popular service in tech circles, in fact, if you ask our hacker friends what they use, this is it (talk about a vote of confidence).
Some of the above passwords can now be considered classics, as they continue to make Keeper’s list. A few of them, including “password,” made an appearance on 2014’s list.
#NewPassword
Staff Writer, Taylor Leddin is a publicist and freelance writer for a number of national outlets. She was featured on Thrive Global as a successful woman in journalism, and is the editor-in-chief of The Tidbit. Taylor resides in Chicago and has a Bachelor in Communication Studies from Illinois State University.
Pingback: 4 Things even n00bs can do to stay safe online - The American Genius