NordPass worked with a third-party provider to evaluate a database containing
275,699,516 passwords. Of those, only 122,894,788, or 44%, were unique. The
others were repeats of common, easy-to-remember passwords that leave users
highly vulnerable to online threats. Only 78 out of 200 of the most used-
passwords this year were new.
If your password is among the top 200, NordPass cybersecurity expert Chad
Hammond encourages you to change it immediately. “Most of these passwords
can be hacked in less than a second,” says Hammond. “Also, they have already
been exposed in previous data breaches. For example, the most popular
password, “123456,” has been breached 23,597,311 times.”
So what can you do to strengthen your security? Use complex passwords and
store them in a password manager; some are free. Keeper, LastPass, and
Dashlane are PCMag Editors’ Choice password managers. You should also use
two-factor authentication where available.
Here are the top 20 most common passwords for 2020.
- 123456
- 123456789
- picture
- password
- 12345678
- 111111
- 123123
- 12345
- 1234567890
- senha
- 1234567
- qwerty
- abc
- Million
- 000000
- 1234
- iloveyou
- aaron
- Password
- qqww
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE (^) I DECEMBER 2020