World Password day is celebrated on May 2 every year. With the growing digitalization, the need for passwords has increased and also for the security purpose it is crucial to have one. The most common passwords have been revealed and a survey by National Cybersecurity showed that many British internet users do not know the way to protect them from cyber crimes.
The research showed the list of most commonly used passwords globally that showed the number of easily guessed passwords being used widely.
The survey showed, 123456 was the most used, ahead of 123456789 and qwerty – the series of letters which appear in a line on a computer keyboard – the word password and 1111111. Ashley was revealed to be the most common name used in a password, followed by Michael, Daniel, Jessica, and Charlie. Liverpool was the most common Premier League Football team used in a password, with Blink 182 the most common music act.
NCSC technical director Dr. Ian Levy said: “We understand that cybersecurity can feel daunting to a lot of people, but the National Cyber Security Centre has published lots of easily applicable advice to make you much less vulnerable.
“Password re-use is a major risk that can be avoided – nobody should protect sensitive data with something that can be guessed, like their first name, local football team or favorite band.
“Using hard-to-guess passwords is a strong first step and we recommend combining three random but memorable words. Be creative and use words memorable to you, so people can’t guess your password.”
The research was released ahead of the NCSC’s CyberUK 2019 conference in Glasgow.
