The most common passwords can be broken in a second by hackers, draw the attention of experts, who made a list of the most frequently used passwords in the world. Cyber security specialist Alexandru Panait says that it is not bad to use names to create a secure password and explains in which combinations it can be used.
Romanians, vulnerable to hackers, because of the passwords used – Photo Shutterstock
On the first place in the list of the most frequently used passwords by Romanians is the word “admin”, a password that can be discovered in as little as a blink, draws the attention of VPN provider NordPass, which has published the 2023 edition of the world's 200 most common passwords. Moreover, according to research, very few of these passwords are secure.
The top is continued by various combinations of numbers: “123456“, “123456789” or “12345678” or words like “password“, “digi” or “password“. In eighth place is the combination of letters “qwqwqwqw“. All these passwords are easy for cybercriminals, who can figure them out in a second, experts say. For example, the top 10 password is “deep1234” and can be decrypted in less than a minute, 57 seconds to be exact. Instead, the password “gavrila123*-“, in ninth place, gives hackers a bit of a headache because it can be decoded in 11 months, and “eternal life26”, from 11th place, in centuries, according to NordPass.
Even though some of us are more resourceful and take more care in choosing passwords, it is not enough to be safe from online threats. E.g, “p@rola12#$”, quite often used, can be cracked in about three hours. While “Server200” can be decrypted in about 20 minutes, and “password123” in less than a minute. It seems more difficult to discover the noun “troglodyte”, which hackers can crack one day.
Globally used passwords
Globally, even though it's 2024, the most common password in the world is “123456”, which, according to NordPass data, can be cracked in less than a second. In second place is the word “admin“. Other passwords, the most common in the world, are: “12345678“, “123456789“, “1234″“12345“, “password“, “123“, “Aa123456“, “1234567890“, “UNKNOWN“, “1234567“, “123123“, “111111“, “Password“, “12345678910“, “000000“, “admin123“, “********” and “Customer“. Most are decrypted in a second using simple software. Practically 70% of the passwords on this year's global list can be cracked in less than a second.
Research shows that for streaming service accounts we choose the weakest passwords, while for banking apps we use the strongest passwords.
How to choose a strong password
Regarding passwords saved in browsers: “As long as the computer we are working on is safe, then it is safe to save passwords in the browser as well”says cybersecurity expert Alexandru Panait.
It is essential that we choose strong passwords to protect our data and personal information online. Experts believe that malware attacks are still an important threat to account security. More precisely, it is necessary to take into account the length and complexity of the combination we choose, but also to change our passwords periodically to maintain the security of our accounts.
“We must use a complex password that contains letters, numbers and special characters. For example, a good password option would be the grandfather's first and last name, with capital letters at the beginning, written linked: IonPopa, plus the year of the child's birth, let's say, and a character like “$” at the end. This is a strong password. It is very important to use different passwords on different accounts, so that if someone, a hacker, finds out our password, they can only compromise one account, not all accounts. We can have a rule, to be easy to remember, possibly: “facebook” and the grandfather's name plus the year of birth plus the special character, and then change something for each account, put “instagram” instead of “facebook” and that's it so, to be easy to remember“, explained Alexandru Panait.
And a password manager can help us keep our data safe, and usually these programs also come with password generators that can be used for different accounts. On average, a typical user has 100 passwords.
Names, dates of birth and other easily guessable personal information should be avoided. “Of course, we should never divulge the passwords we use“, says the expert.
Two-step authentication, where possible, provides additional protection for accounts. The future of authentication is represented by passkeys. These are a new form of authentication, where the user does not have to find a password – everything is done automatically.
Top 20 most used passwords in Romania
1. admin
2. 123456
3. 123456789
4. password
5. 12345678
6. digi
7. the password
8. qwqwqwqw
9. gavrila123*-
10. deep1234
11. eternal life26
12. p@rola12#$
13. Server200
14. Alexander
15. reebok88
16. password123
17. andrea
18. 12345
19.1234567890
20. troglodyte
