“123456” is the most widespread password: here is the top 20 of the least secure ones most used in Italy and in the world

Every year, millions of people fall victim to cyber attacks. The success of cybercriminals, very often, is not to be found in their “skill”, but rather in the naivety of users, who adopt reckless behavior in the IT field, to say the least. One of these concerns the use of insecure passwords. According to the annual report conducted by the password manager NordPassin collaboration with threat management software NordStellarthe habit of choosing weak passwords remains a chronic problem. The most surprising fact? The combination “123456” continues to be the most used password in the worldchosen by over 3 million users for their personal accounts and by more than 1.2 million people for business ones! A choice that translates into a very high risk, given that it takes less than a second to crack this password.

Because using less complex passwords is dangerous

This is nothing new: “123456” has been at the top of the list of worst passwords in 5 of the last 6 analyzes conducted by NordPass. The only time it was surpassed was by “password”another combination so simple that even a beginner can easily guess it. To compile this ranking, NordPass analyzed a 2.5 terabyte database from public sources and the Dark Weba segment of the network where stolen sensitive data is often illegally shared. Data was examined for 44 countries, distinguishing between personal and corporate credentials. This methodology has allowed us to draw a clear picture of the most common and, unfortunately, most dangerous choices in terms of security.

NordPass’ ranking of the least secure passwords includes a number of predictable combinations, such as simple number sequences (like the aforementioned “123456”), common words (“qwerty”), or even your own name. Choosing such “security” keys exposes accounts to a large number of automated attacks, known as brute force attack. These attacks use software capable of testing thousands of combinations per second, managing to guess the most common passwords in record time.

The situation is especially serious when these superficial choices extend to corporate accounts, where sensitive data may include financial information, customer personal data or confidential documents.

The top 20 of the most used least secure passwords in the world and in Italy

If you are curious to discover the top 20 of the most used least secure passwords in the worldhere you are satisfied:

1. 123456 (used 3,018,050 times)
2. 123456789 (used 1,625,135 times)
3. 12345678 (used 884,740 times)
4. password (used 692,151 times)
5. qwerty123 (used 642,638 times)
6. qwerty1 (used 583,630 times)
7. 111111 (used 459,730 times)
8. 12345 (used 395,573 times)
9. secret (used 363,491 times)
10. 123123 (used 351,576 times)
11. 1234567890 (used 324,349 times)
12. 1234567 (used 307,719 times)
13. 000000 (used 250,043 times)
14. qwerty (used 244,879 times)
15. abc123 (used 217,230 times)
16. password1 (used 211,932 times)
17. iloveyou (used 197,880 times)
18. 11111111 (used 195,237 times)
19. dragon (used 144,670 times)
20. monkey (used 139,150 times)

Going to do a “zoom” on the situation in Italythe top 20 least secure passwords is the following:

1. 123456 (used 46,595 times)
2. change me (used 22,472 times)
3. 123456789 (used 18,604 times)
4. 12345678 (used 12,221 times)
5. password (used 10,990 times)
6. juventus (used 10,394 times)
7. qwerty1 (used 10,141 times)
8. qwerty123 (used 9202 times)
9. francesco (used 8174 times)
10. qwerty (used 7822 times)
11. Abcd1234 (used 7695 times)
12. alessandro (used 7493 times)
13. giuseppe (used 7105 times)
14. ciaociao (used 7011 times)
15. andrea (used 6958 times)
16. 12345 (used 6741 times)
17. francesca (used 6295 times)
18. amoremio (used 5614 times)
19. antonio (used 5510 times)
20. 000000 (used 5468 times)

How to create strong passwords and protect yourself from hackers

To protect yourself from potential cyber attacks, how can you create secure passwords? Here are some tips:

• Avoid using obvious combinations such as number sequences, common words or easily findable personal information, such as your name or date of birth.
• Use long passwords. The most secure passwords are long at least 12 characters and combine uppercase, lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.
• Never use the same password on multiple sites.
• Keep your login details for your accounts password managertools designed to generate and store complex passwords. In this way, it will be enough to remember a single combination, which will give you access to all the complex passwords that you have generated through the same password manager.
• Enable two-factor authentication or 2FAa system that adds an extra step in the login process, making life much more difficult for hackers.
• Always keep your eyes wide open when surfing: The Internet has traps scattered here and there, ready to be triggered when they are inadvertently “triggered” by unwary users.