Feb 11, 2024
NordPass has once again revealed its annual list of the most common passwords and things don't appear to be improving.
NordPass, a keen observer of password pitfalls, notes a shuffle in the ranks. Last year's underachiever, "password," slipped to seventh place. Yet, the usual suspects like "123456" continue to dominate globally, followed closely by "admin," and the equally uninspired "12345678" and "123456789." These numerical sequences, varying from four to ten characters, remain alarmingly popular, with one outlier, UNKNOWN, which surprisingly would take 17 minutes to crack - a stark contrast to the others crackable in under a second.
Diving into regional quirks, U.S. users of NordPass favour generic choices, with the sole standout being "shitbird." Across the pond, UK users flaunt their football allegiance with passwords like "liverpool," "arsenal," and "chelsea," joined by less sporty choices like "cheese" and "dragon." The research also reveals a lax attitude towards streaming service passwords, categorised as low-priority and notably weaker than others.
Given the popularity of password managers like NordPass and 1Password today, alongside native solutions like iCloud KeyChain and Google Password Manager, it's surpising we are yet to see a significant shift in password hygiene. With all the chatter about passkeys, maybe we'll see a more significant shift away from passwords altogether in the coming years.