Earlier this week, SplashData released its annual list of the 25 most common passwords used on the Internet—and no surprise, most are so blindingly obvious it’s a shock that people still rely on them to protect their data. There were some interesting quirks in the dataset, however. Following a massive security breach in late 2013, a large amount of Adobe users’ passwords leaked onto the broader Web; many of those users based their password on either ‘Adobe’ or ‘Photoshop,’ which are terms (along with the ever-popular ‘password’) easily discoverable using today’s hacker tools. "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," Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData, wrote in a statement. While it’s always tempting to create a password that’s easy to remember—especially if you maintain profiles on multiple online services—the consequences of an attacker breaking into your accounts are potentially devastating. Complex passwords with a mix of numbers, letters and special characters (#,$,%,&, etc.) are best; avoid passwords based on dictionary words, numerical sequences (“1234567”), or personal information (such as your birthday). Without further ado, here are the 25 most common passwords from 2013. If you recognize one of these as your own, changing it as soon as possible might be prudent: 1. 123456 2. password 3. 12345678 4. qwerty 5. abc123 6. 123456789 7. 111111 8. 1234567 9. iloveyou 10. adobe123 11. 123123 12. admin 13. 1234567890 14. letmein 15. photoshop (Office graphic designers, we know this is you) 16. 1234 17. monkey 18. shadow 19. sunshine 20. 12345 21. password1 (Impossible to guess!) 22. princess 23. azerty 24. trustno1 (Lots of people out there are ‘X-Files’ fans, apparently) 25. 000000 ('Monkey' is kind of cute, actually.) Image: kpatyhka/Shutterstock.com Passwords You Should Never Use
Earlier this week, SplashData released its annual list of the 25 most common passwords used on the Internet—and no surprise, most are so blindingly obvious it’s a shock that people still rely on them to protect their data. There were some interesting quirks in the dataset, however. Following a massive security breach in late 2013, a large amount of Adobe users’ passwords leaked onto the broader Web; many of those users based their password on either ‘Adobe’ or ‘Photoshop,’ which are terms (along with the ever-popular ‘password’) easily discoverable using today’s hacker tools. "Seeing passwords like 'adobe123' and 'photoshop' on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing," Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData, wrote in a statement. While it’s always tempting to create a password that’s easy to remember—especially if you maintain profiles on multiple online services—the consequences of an attacker breaking into your accounts are potentially devastating. Complex passwords with a mix of numbers, letters and special characters (#,$,%,&, etc.) are best; avoid passwords based on dictionary words, numerical sequences (“1234567”), or personal information (such as your birthday). Without further ado, here are the 25 most common passwords from 2013. If you recognize one of these as your own, changing it as soon as possible might be prudent: 1. 123456 2. password 3. 12345678 4. qwerty 5. abc123 6. 123456789 7. 111111 8. 1234567 9. iloveyou 10. adobe123 11. 123123 12. admin 13. 1234567890 14. letmein 15. photoshop (Office graphic designers, we know this is you) 16. 1234 17. monkey 18. shadow 19. sunshine 20. 12345 21. password1 (Impossible to guess!) 22. princess 23. azerty 24. trustno1 (Lots of people out there are ‘X-Files’ fans, apparently) 25. 000000 ('Monkey' is kind of cute, actually.) Image: kpatyhka/Shutterstock.com 