'Password' not the world's worst password anymore, '123456' is

Coming up with and remembering complicated passwords is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, there have been some spectacularly bad, commonly used passwords that end up becoming potential security risks. For the longest time “password” was identified as the worst password in the world, but in 2013, “123456” has taken over that title. (And if you are among one of these users, shame on you! change your password immediately!)   Analysts at SplashData have released their annual list of the world’s worst passwords and the 2013 list has seen some usual suspects as well as the new leader of terrible passwords. “Password” we are sorry to say, is still a pretty popular choice. The former world’s worst password may have been dethroned by a series of numbers but it’s still sitting cozy on the number two position. Seriously people, this is not cool.   Other passwords that are still being used by thousands of users the world over include “abc123”, “qwerty” and “admin”. These usually double up as default passwords for multiple services and end up unchanged, especially if the account is being shared by a few people. There were also some really hilarious passwords that made it to SplashData’s list like “letmein” and “monkey” and ironically, “trustno1”   [caption id=“attachment_216691” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The world’s worst passwords for last year[/caption] SplashData compiled these bad passwords into a list using data available from the files that contained multiple password leaks in the past year. The list was also hugely influenced by the large number of passwords that made their way into the open after the breach in Adobe’s systems. Sure enough, passwords containing the name of Adobe’s services like Photoshop were part of some of the worst passwords. “Seeing passwords like ‘adobe123’ and ‘photoshop’ on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing,” says Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData.   The service has offered some tips to make your passwords more secure, though. SplashData says that eight characters or more should be a good length for a secure password and it should contain mixed characters. You must also try to avoid substituting numerals instead of alphabets, like “dr4mat1c”. It is also advisable that you do not use the same password for multiple websites.   And please, for the love of God, don’t go with ‘password’.