Alongside all of those celebrity deaths, 2016 was also notable for the amount of data breaches made public. These led to millions of people's login credentials being leaked online. Which, as unfortunate as that may be, gives us an insight into the worst passwords you can use right now.
In the early days of the internet, passwords were seen as an impenetrable force against anyone accessing your accounts. But the technology employed by hackers quickly evolved to render most passwords absolutely useless. At this point you may as well just assume your data is accessible to all.
These days you either need to forge long passwords full of weird and wonderful combinations of characters, or use a password manager. However, most people do neither of those things, and instead stick with the same crappy password(s) they have used since they first ventured online.
The Worst Passwords of 2016
Keeper Security, makers of the popular Keeper password manager, has compiled a list of the most commonly used passwords involved in data breaches in 2016. These can be legitimately labelled as the worst passwords to use right now. Because hackers can crack each and every one of them.
- 123456
- 123456789
- Qwerty
- 12345678
- 111111
- 1234567890
- 1234567
- password
- 123123
- 987654321
- Qwertyuiop
- Mynoob
- 123321
- 666666
- 18atckd2w
- 7777777
- 1q2w3e4r
- 654321
- 555555
- 3rjs1la7qe
- 1q2w3e4r5t
- 123qwe
- zxcvbnm
- 1q2w3e
Many of these passwords have been popular for years, with some turning up in our list of the worst passwords in the world from 2015. They're all short, and most are easy to remember thanks to adhering to a pattern on your keyboard. But each and every one of them is terrible.
Passwords Are a Thing of the Past
All of this strongly suggests that passwords are pointless. Unless, of course, you use a long, randomly generated string of characters with no discernible pattern. Unfortunately, unless you're a Rain Man-like savant, you'll never be able to remember such long and complicated passwords. Which is why password managers are becoming increasingly popular.
However, even password managers can only do so much. In the long run we need to move away from using passwords and forge a new, better solution. Which is where biometric security enters stage left. Biometrics aren't perfect, but it's one possible solution currently being considered.
Do you use any of the passwords on this list? If so, why? Do you have a bad memory? Or can you just not be bothered to change your passwords? How do you choose your passwords? How do you manage your passwords? Please let us know in the comments below!
Image Credit: Eric Schmuttenmaer via Flickr