When we imagine hackers breaking into our online life and stealing our identity, we imagine them like this:
Basically, we imagine that they have to perform a bunch of complicated tasks and fancy computer tricks. But then we saw the list of the 25 most popular passwords from 2015 and we realize how easy hackers have it, so they probably look more like this:
Apparently, all someone has to do to steal your entire life online is enter the phrase "abc123" and they're in. Seriously, that's one of the most popular Internet passwords, according to the info pulled by SplashData for its annual report.
The list of the most used phrases for passwords is honestly the most ridiculously depressing thing to read. From the 2 million passwords that were made public in 2015, SplashData found that the number one most used term to protect things like your Facebook or your bank account or your Ashley Madison profile was…wait for it…
"123456"
That's right. Six numbers in numerical order. That's it. People didn't even mix it up and put the "4" before the "3" or something. This is why we can't have nice things!
Check out the list of the most popular passwords from last year and for the love of all that is holy, if your password is on this list, change it immediately. Why is your password "football" in the first place?! At least make it your favorite NFL team and give those people trying to steal your identify a little bit of a challenge.
1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. 12345
6. 123456789
7. football
8. 1234
9. 1234567
10. baseball
11. welcome
12. 1234567890
13. abc123
14. 111111
15. 1qaz2wsx
16. dragon
17. master
18. monkey
19. letmein
20. login
21. princess
22. qwertyuiop
23. solo
24. passw0rd
25. starwars
Memo to everyone: it's not very smart to have your password be the title of the most popular movie of the year. Just a thought.
C'mon, guys. If Dark Helmet knew "12345" was a ridiculous password back in 1987, then we should all know it's a terrible password in 2016.
By the way, how awesome is Spaceballs?! We're going to go watch it now. So update your password and then come meet us for a Spaceballs viewing party!