They still use the worst passwords in 2024

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Passwords remain a serious but preventable security problem. If you use one of these, you should change it as soon as possible.

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What are the worst passwords? Password manager provider NordPass analyzed a massive data set from publicly available databases, totaling 2.5 TB. It contained millions of passwords with associated email addresses – and the situation remains dire. Because the most commonly used passwords are all easy to crack.

People’s inglorious favorites remain 123456 or password. And no matter how far you look down the sad top list, it doesn’t get any more imaginative. As it turns out, users have not become more cautious since 2023.

Elsewhere we will explain to you a student project that aims to point out the dangers of technology. Here you can find the report in article form. You can watch the corresponding video directly:

Students spy on passers-by with a hidden camera and an AI, find out their name and address in seconds

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At work or in private life: people are lazy about passwords

NordPass differentiates between private and company passwords in its lists. You separate them based on email addresses. Globally, the top five passwords used at home look like this:

  • 123456
  • 123456789
  • 12345678
  • password
  • qwerty123

    • If you look at the passwords that are prevalent in Germany, qwerty and the like are thrown out and replaced by even more trivial number sequences or, in 10th place, the creative outpouring of 000000

    The situation is quite similar with company passwords:

  • 123456
  • 123456789
  • 12345678
  • secret
  • password

    • The German top 5 basically corresponds to the private one.

    Why are these passwords bad? These databases have long been known to all hackers. They’ve fed their tools with this and so, according to NordPass, it takes less than a second to crack everything within the top ten.

    A group of researchers put together some time ago how long it takes to crack a really secure password: Do you think your password is secure? Graphic shows you how long it takes hackers to crack it

    What should I pay attention to for a secure password? You can follow these points if you doubt whether a password is secure:

  • If possible, use large and small letters and numbers and, if permitted, special characters.
  • Don’t use simple sequences like those from the NordPass lists above.
  • They should also not be familiar words in your native language or common foreign languages, such as the English word for secret, secret
  • Have you already used it somewhere? If yes, then take another one.
  • No one should be able to easily guess if they know you personally. So don’t use your date of birth, names of relatives or your hobbies.
  • Don’t keep your passwords visible at your desk

    • Alternatively, you can also use a password manager. This saves your passwords in encrypted form. You get access via a single password, which should be really good. There are various free or paid versions, the search engine of your choice will help quickly.

    If you are interested in more facts about smartphones after this excursion into the sometimes very unpleasant world of data security, we have even more to offer on MeinMMO. Elsewhere, for example, we have listed six myths about cell phone use that you should no longer believe.

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