At the beginning of the year, Mashable released a list of the worst passwords in 2013. The big news is that the password “password” has finally been dethroned. The usurper to # 1 Worst Password was “123456” which is arguably a somewhat lateral move.
Password security is a topic we’ve discussed before, but the following are some dos and don’ts regarding the password security:
DO:
- Create unique passwords that use numbers, symbols (*&!$%), upper-and-lower-case letters
- Make your password 8 – 10 characters long, the longer the better
- Try using PasswordSafe (http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net) or other similar software to store your passwords on your computer.
- Change your password every 3 months
- Change your password after a security breach
- Make your password easy to type (this makes it harder for someone looking over your shoulder to steal it!)
DON’T:
- Use your birth date, social security number or phone number
- Use the same password for multiple web sites | especially not your email password
- Store your passwords on your computer
- Choose your username as your password
- Use all letters or all numbers
- Use sample passwords
The following is the list of the 25 worst passwords of 2013. If yours is on here, you should probably change it. IMMEDIATELY.
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
16. 1234
17. monkey
18. shadow
19. sunshine
20. 12345
21. password1
22. princess
23. azerty
24. trustno1
25. 000000