‘A hackers delight’: Top 20 passwords you should avoid as scamming activity ramps up across Australia
Cyber safety experts have revealed the most common passwords hackers are using to evade online accounts, with some taking only a matter of seconds to crack.
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Security experts are urging Australians to review their passwords, after new data revealed the staggering number of people using basic combinations that can be cracked by hackers within seconds.
The warning comes just days after Optus’ major data breach, where 10 million past and present customers of the telco company had their personal information stolen by cyber criminals.
This included customers’ driver’s licence numbers, passport details, Medicare numbers, contact details, names and home addresses.
While Optus was at-fault for the data breach, new research by password manager NordPass found hundreds of thousands of Australians were using the same basic password for their online accounts in 2021, exposing them to the same level of risk as the telco company.
Topping off the list for more common passwords was ‘123456’, which was used 308,000 times.
This was followed by the notoriously simple password ‘password’ which was recorded on 191,800 accounts, with both combinations taking less than one second to crack with a basic software program.
Other common passwords Australians are strongly advised against using include ‘lizottes’, ‘password1’, ‘123456789’, ‘abc123’, ‘qwerty’, ‘holden’, ‘charlie’, ‘dragon’, ‘australia’ and ‘princess’.
Additionally, any adaptations to these passwords are discouraged such as adding a single digit to a common word.
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The data also revealed that Australia was considered in the “high” category when it came to passwords leaked per capita, among Russia, Canada and the United States.
More than 85 million passwords were shared in 2021, compromising thousands of Australians’ online accounts.
Now, with data security and password protection more crucial than ever before, NordPass has emphasised the need to follow its “password hygiene basics” to ensure your password health is at its full potential.
The first non-negotiable step includes having a complex password that steers clear of the most common password list.
“A complex password is one that contains at least 12 characters and a varied combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols,” NordPass states on its website.
“Using a password generator is the easiest and quickest way to create complex passwords.”
Next, the data protection firm advises against reusing passwords across multiple accounts as it‘s a “hackers delight”.
“If only one of the accounts is compromised, consider all your other accounts jeopardised.”
It‘s also recommended that users update their passwords every 90 days with varying passwords that don’t reflect what was previously used, as this will optimise password health.
Finally, for those questioning how they’re supposed to keep track of all their advanced passwords, NordPass recommends using an authorised password manager to securely store and access your passwords is the simplest and most efficient way.
“Saving passwords in a browser might seem convenient, but you may be sacrificing security and accessibility,” NordPass said.
“Standalone password managers, like NordPass, offer an additional security layer – a Master Password, which is used to encrypt and protect your data.”
Other interesting facts that may influence your next password choice include the large proportion of people across the globe that use their own names as a password. Cars are also a habitual password go-to, with Ferrari and Porsche among the most popular.
The research also revealed that swear words are highly considered as a password choice, with men using them on more occasions than their female counterparts.
For more information on how to protect yourself or business from data breaches and cyber crime, the federal government’s Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has more advice on password security via its website.
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Originally published as ‘A hackers delight’: Top 20 passwords you should avoid as scamming activity ramps up across Australia
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