Bad passwords: 2011 to 2015

Security applications provider Splashdata has released its latest Worst Passwords report, which revealed that “123456” remains the most common password – followed by “password” and “12345678”.

Over the last five years, SplashData has studied millions of exposed passwords on the Internet as well as mitigating techniques companies and individuals use.

“Many people and organisations don’t think much about passwords, but passwords remain vitally important in Internet security,” said Splashdata.

Selecting a common password has serious security implications. Splashdata warned that a hacker can crack the average password in three minutes or less, through a brute force or dictionary attack.

What is of particular concern is that there is not a big change in the most common password choices over the last five years.

These common passwords are often used by hackers to gain access to accounts.

The table below shows the most common passwords from 2011 to 2015, based on the Splashdata Worst Passwords report.

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