An annual report released by NordPass states that online users are repeatedly committing the same mistake by using their own name as a password, which could put their online identity at a major risk in coming years.
According to the list of Most Common Passwords used in 2020, a majority of them either used their name or 123456 as a password that the hackers can crack in a matter of seconds to gain entry into an account or network.
Every year, online users are committing the same mistake of reusing the restricted passwords or using those that are being used on multiple accounts. This includes words such as Qwerty, sports team names, gender differences, local names, celebrity names, maiden names, car brand names, band names that are widely used and so are easy to guess.
Using a password manager under such circumstances makes sense as it help use different passwords for each site they visit and cuts down the need to memorize each password for ever.
Coming to the passwords used by men and woman, the former were found using words belonging to sports and sports persons as passwords. While woman preferred to use more positive and lovely words such as ‘IloveYou’, sunshine, heart&soul, darling and such….
Researchers found that children, especially those entering their teenage were found using words such as chocolate, cookie, pepper, pokemon, superman, blink182, starwars and batman as passwords.
“Maintaining proper password hygiene is extremely important as it helps people to shield themselves from attacks such as password spray, phishing and brute force attacks,” said Jonas Karklys, the CEO of NordPass.
Mr. Jonas added that since hacking software was easily available on internet, cyber criminals can easily bypass the commonly used passwords within seconds.
