Passwords are something we all dread since none of us follow guidelines of using a different password for each site.
I have a hard enough time keeping up with my new MyFSU login since it changes every few months. But Splashdata announced their list of the 40 worst passwords to have due to their commonplace, which is advantageous if you are a hacker.
With no surprise, the worst password is, of course, “password” followed by “123456,” “12345678,” “abc123” and “qwerty” to round out the top five.
Some other unique passwords that made their way onto the list include “monkey,” “let me in,” “dragon,” “trustno1” and “ninja.” Hopefully I didn’t just say any of your passwords since that means a hacker would have pretty easy access into your account.
Although most sites prevent you from choosing such idiotic passwords, the amount of high-profile leaks of passwords from popular sites such as Yahoo, LinkedIn and Last.fm means that if you share a password on multiple sites, you may be setting yourself up for future disaster.
One solution to this is to utilize a password managing add-on to your Internet browser such as LastPass. LastPass allows you to generate a new password for each site and allows you to log on to such a manager from any computer or phone. But the downside to such a system is that if your LastPass information gets out, then all your information gets out.
Smart Internet practices and safe browsing help lower your risk of getting your accounts hacked.