SplashData Releases List of Worst Passwords of 2014

Posted on January 21, 2015

SplashData has released its list of the 25 most common passwords of 2014. The list is also known as the annual worst passwords list. They are ranked from 1 to 25 but they are all terrible passwords to use. Using any one of them will give your account a good chance of getting broken into.

Sometimes people use easy-to-remember passwords for things they don't care about getting compromised. They may want access to something online quickly and don't plan on returning to the site. This could explain why this simple passwords are so prevalent. The problem with deliberately using a weak password - even for something that seems trivial - is that you might enable a hacker to obtain information they can use to get into your other accounts, such as your email address or some other piece of data.

The worst passwords list is filled with numerical sequences, such as "123456," which topped the list and dictionary words like "password," "dragon" and "football." All sequences and dictionary words are a bad idea. SplashData says "123456" and "password" have topped its worst password list since it started the list in 2011.

You can see the complete list of 25 passwords here. You can be sure hackers will be testing this first when they try and break into an account.

Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData, says in a statement, "Passwords based on simple patterns on your keyboard remain popular despite how weak they are. Any password using numbers alone should be avoided, especially sequences. As more websites require stronger passwords or combinations of letters and numbers, longer keyboard patterns are becoming common passwords, and they are still not secure."






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