Most common password of 2015 was 123456

The most commonly used passwords of 2015 have been described as “dangerous” by cyber security professionals due to their lack of complexity.

Password management company SplashData compiled logins from lists featuring stolen passwords. It revealed that the password ‘123456’ is the most common password, with the even more unimaginative ‘password’ ranking the second most popular.

Passwords ‘qwerty’ and ‘12345678’ were both top five choices. The other top five entry was ‘12345’.

Cyber security professionals have warned online users that such common passwords only serve to make life easier for cyber criminals.

There were further calls for online users to avoid using a common password across multiple internet accounts. The firm also made the point that hackers are able to access the same information as experts.

Security expert Mark James from cyber company ESET said:

“The bad guys have access to the same lists we do. When passwords appear in these lists they will be in the top most data used for brute force matching.

“Time is important when you’re trying to guess someone’s password, so hackers want to get it done and move on to the next one as quickly as possible.”

Other common passwords, all top 20 inclusions, included ‘login’, ‘letmein’, and ‘football’.

Whether it is individual users choosing unsecure passwords or businesses failing to implement adequate cyber security procedures, a more serious approach is clearly needed. One of the steps that businesses need to take is to look at their IT security recruitment plan and ask themselves if they are really doing enough.