The 2017 annual list of worst passwords by SplashData has been revealed and a couple of surprising new entries have made it to the list for the first time this year. For seven years in a row, the top two spots have been occupied by the same passwords.
SplashData has released its news findings for the year based on five million passwords leaked in 2017. Unsurprisingly, "123456" and "password" have remained to be the world's most hacked passwords, occupying the first two spots respectively since 2011.
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Per reported data, nearly 10 per cent of people are using at least one of the first 25 worst passwords of the year, while almost 3 per cent are using the worst password.
Interestingly, entering the top 25 list is the Star Wars film, with "starwars" in the 16th place. Back in 2015, the same password construct also made it to SplashData's list, placing 25th.
"Unfortunately, while the newest episode may be a fantastic addition to the Star Wars franchise, 'starwars' is a dangerous password to use," says Morgan Slain, the chief executive officer of SplashData Inc, in an official statement.
The entries of the Star Wars passwords happen to be the time franchises for the movie were released. The Force Awakens was released in 2015, while The Last Jedi just came out early in December 2017.
"Hackers are using common terms from pop culture and sports to break into accounts online because they know many people are using those easy-to-remember words," notes Slain.
He has hoped that this list should make people aware of the risks and encourage them to take precautionary steps to secure themselves online.
"Hackers know your tricks, and merely tweaking an easily guessable password does not make it secure. Our hope is that our Worst Passwords of the Year list will cause people to take steps to protect themselves online."
Check out 2017's top 25 Worst Passwords of the Year:
1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. 12345
6. 123456789
7. letmein
8. 1234567
9. football
10. iloveyou
11. admin
12. welcome
13. monkey
14. login
15. abc123
16. starwars
17. 123123
18. dragon
19. passw0rd
20. master
21. hello
22. freedom
23. whatever
24. qazwsx
25. trustno1
The top 100 list can be viewed here.
