These Were the Most Common Digital Passwords of 2016. Is Yours on the List?
Updated: Mar. 25, 2022If you thought 'qwerty' was clever, it's not.
“Your password will expire in 3 days. Do you want to change it now?” —Your Computer
If you’re like most people, just the thought of that reminder makes you wish you were stuck in traffic instead. So what’s your go to? A mash-up of your children’s names? Your favorite color plus a few extra numbers at the end? If you’re like 17 percent of Americans, it’s “123456.”
No, seriously.
A recent study of 10 million leaked passwords by computer security firm Keeper identified the most common passwords of 2016. Surprisingly, the top 25 passwords on the list accounted for 50 percent of all 10 million that were analyzed.
Unsurprisingly, the list is a stunning display of laziness. Here they are:
1. 123456
2. 123456789
3. qwerty
4. 12345678
5. 111111
6. 1234567890
7. 1234567
8. password
9. 123123
10. qwertyuiop
11. 987654321
12. mynoob
13. 123321
14. 666666
15. 18atcskd2w
16. 777777
17. 1q2w3e4r
18. 654321
19. 555555
20. 3rjs1la7qe
21. google
22. 1q2w3e4r5t
23. 123qwe
24. zxcvbnm
25. 1q2w3e
So yeah, a majority of Americans are safeguarding their accounts with passwords they derived by swiping their hand across the keyboard.
And while we don’t think we need to tell you the importance of creating strong passwords, we do want to tell you this: we can do better.
MORE: Here’s why your password is weak and how to make it better.
