Washington, Jan 22- ‘123456’ has beaten ‘password’ to become the most common and the worst password on the internet for 2013, researchers say.
US security firm SplashData has announced its annual list of the 25 most common passwords found on the Internet after analysing millions of stolen passwords posted online in 2013.
For the first time since SplashData began compiling its annual list, “password” has lost its title as the most common and therefore worst password, and two-time runner-up “123456” took the dubious honour.
According to SplashData, the list was influenced by the large number of passwords from Adobe users posted online by security consulting firm Stricture Consulting Group following Adobe’s much publicised security breach.
“Seeing passwords like ‘adobe123’ and ‘photoshop’ on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing,” said Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData.
The list of frequently used passwords shows that many people continue to put themselves at risk by using weak, easily guessable passwords.
Some other passwords in the top ten include “qwerty,” “abc123,” “111111,” and “iloveyou.”
“Another interesting aspect of this year’s list is that more short numerical passwords showed up even though websites are starting to enforce stronger password policies,” Slain said.
For example, new to this year’s list are simple and easily guessable passwords like “1234” at 16th spot, “12345” at number 20, and “000000” at 25th position.
-Indiatoday
