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    Categories: Internet

‘123456’ Most Commonly Used, ‘123456789’ 2nd Most in 2016 : Report

We keep hearing about data breaches, and the threat to security when someone hacks passwords on a huge level. However, users continue to use extremely simple and stupid passwords so as to have the easiest log-in ever.

According to a study of researchers at Keeper Blog, Nearly 17 percent of users are safeguarding their accounts with the password ‘123456’. It is also the most commonly used password in 2016, followed by ‘123456789’.

The research has been conducted on a list of passwords that were made available to the public through data security breaches in 2016. The change in the most-used password has seen a little shift over the last few years, as users tend to become only a little cautious.

Four of the top 10 passwords on the list – and seven of the top 15 – are six characters or shorter. This is extremely lazy on the part of the users, and such passwords can be easily hacked by scammers and hackers on the internet. It doesn’t take time for them to unscramble these passwords either.

Users are not completely to be blamed – website owners also don’t employ stronger password setting techniques. Some websites do not require even an uppercase characters, or an alphanumeric password with special characters, thereby making the password weak.

Other most common passwords include – qwerty, 12345678, 111111, 1234567890, 1234567, password, 123123 and 987654321. The other passwords being used very commonly are ones that have a specific pattern as seen on the keyboard.

The study also mentions that if you have a password on this list, then you’re very well exposed to a security breach because hackers and spammers are on a look out for such accounts. It is better you change the password right now than worry later.

How to set a stronger password?

We have already written a detailed post on how one can set strong passwords in three easy steps. However, it is very clear from the research above that you simply cannot be lazy while setting a protection key.

Alphanumeric is the best way to go, combined with special characters to make the password undecipherable. In fact, online there are a lot of such third-party apps that will help you create a password that is unique and not easy to crack. Keeper is one of those and will help you generate a random but strong password.

For your data to be secure, you should enforce strong passwords, and stay away from data breach. Cyber-security is of utmost importance and any kind of breach can have huge repercussions in this age of the internet.

Resource: Here is how you can keep strong unbreakable passwords easily!

Source: Keeper

Abhishek Joshi: Abhishek is working as an analytics consultant in Gurgaon. He has a passion for tech journalism and loves to explore and play with new smartphones.
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