List of Most Hacked Passwords

Recently, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre released their list of the top 100,000 passwords known to cybercriminals and hackers.

Whilst there will be no real surprises to many, here is the top 25:

1. 123456

2. 123456789

3. qwerty

4. password

5. 111111

6. 12345678

7. abc123

8. 1234567

9. password1

10. 12345

11. 1234567890

12. 123123

13. 000000

14. iloveyou

15. 1234

16. 1q2w3e4r5t

17. qwertyuiop

18. 123

19. monkey

20. dragon

21. 123456a

22. 654321

23. 123321

24. 666666

25. 1qaz2wsx

The full list can be found here.

Of note, is that a breach analysis conducted by the NCSC found that 23.2 million victim accounts worldwide used 123456 as a password.

The top fictional characters used for passwords is:

1. superman

2. naruto

3. tigger

4. pokemon

5. batman

Top 5 musicians:

1. blink182

2. 50cent

3. eminem

4. metallica

5. slipknot

Interestingly, ashley, michael and daniel were the top 3 passwords that used people's names.

Passwords are used to identify who you are. They are the first line of defence to protect your information and log ins from cybercriminals; and should be a secret that only you know. Needless to say, strong passwords are essential in today's digitised world.

Passphrases are a recommended defence against hackers, and should be considered in place of passwords. A passphrase that is made up of at least four words, including at least 13 characters, for example 'cowjumpedoverthemoon'. In order to make it easy to remember, though still be unique, pick a meaningful passphrase.

However, if you need to use a password, it is important to remember that the longer it is, the stronger it is!

Finally, re-using passwords is fraught with danger - avoid this at all times.