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These days, businesses have an understanding of security hygiene and the risks of using insecure passwords.
Yet, the password management struggle is real and it is hitting businesses hard.
Given the fact that stolen or reused passwords are responsible for 80% of hacking-related breaches, it’s high time for businesses to fix their overall security posture and step up their cybersecurity game.
While more and more businesses are taking this concern seriously and are implementing security measures like password management, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and single sign-on (SSO), it is unfortunate that people still cling to poor password habits.
NordPass came up with a database of 500 million leaked passwords and ranked them based on their usage in its list of worst passwords in 2019. Keep reading for some of the worst of the bunch.
The Top 51 Worst Passwords of 2019
In this list, you’ll recognize some old standbys like "123456" and "password" in the top spots. But there are some unexpected ones here, too.
For example, passwords like zinch and g_czechout may seem harder to crack, yet they still made it to the 7th and 8th positions, respectively.
You’ll also see popular female names like Jasmine or Jennifer. Another tactic is using a string of letters that forms a pattern or a line on the keyboard. Popular examples include asdfghjkl and 1qaz2wsx.
Here they all are in top ranking order.
| Rank | Password | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12345 | 2812220 | |
| 2 | 123456 | 2485216 | |
| 3 | 123456789 | 1052268 | |
| 4 | test1 | 993756 | |
| 5 | password | 830846 | |
| 6 | 12345678 | 512560 | |
| 7 | zinch | 483443 | |
| 8 | g_czechout | 372278 | |
| 9 | asdf | 359520 | |
| 10 | qwerty | 348762 | |
| 11 | 1234567890 | 329341 | |
| 12 | 1234567 | 261610 | |
| 13 | Aa123456. | 212903 | |
| 14 | iloveyou | 171657 | |
| 15 | 1234 | 169683 | |
| 16 | abc123 | 150977 | |
| 17 | 111111 | 148079 | |
| 18 | 123123 | 145365 | |
| 19 | dubsmash | 144104 | |
| 20 | test | 139624 | |
| 21 | princess | 122658 | |
| 22 | 122658 | 116273 | |
| 23 | sunshine | 107202 | |
| 24 | BvtTest123 | 106991 | |
| 25 | 11111 | 104395 | |
| 26 | ashley | 94557 | |
| 27 | 00000 | 92927 | |
| 28 | 000000 | 92330 | |
| 29 | password1 | 92009 | |
| 30 | monkey | 86404 | |
| 31 | livetest | 83677 | |
| 32 | 55555 | 83004 | |
| 33 | soccer | 80159 | |
| 34 | charlie | 78914 | |
| 35 | asdfghjkl | 77360 | |
| 36 | 654321 | 76498 | |
| 37 | family | 76007 | |
| 38 | michael | 71035 | |
| 39 | 123321 | 69727 | |
| 40 | football | 68495 | |
| 41 | baseball | 67981 | |
| 42 | q1w2e3r4t5y6 | 66586 | |
| 43 | nicole | 64992 | |
| 44 | jessica | 63498 | |
| 45 | purple | 62709 | |
| 46 | shadow | 62592 | |
| 47 | hannah | 62394 | |
| 48 | chocolate | 62325 | |
| 49 | michelle | 61873 | |
| 50 | daniel | 61643 | |
| 51 | maggie | 61445 |
Why is password hygiene not taken seriously?
Now that you've seen the worst passwords, you may want to improve the password hygiene of your enterprise.
But what if your customers don't follow good password hygiene?
Unfortunately, many don't. The biggest reason is that remembering multiple passwords for multiple accounts is hard work. This leads to people using easy-to-guess passwords or recycled passwords which can lead to a domino effect of attacks on both consumers and companies.
Another flawed approach is that people may think their information is insignificant, so they assume that no hacker would care about them. However, a ransomware attack can lock users out of their accounts and become quite costly.
How can you improve password security?
As our worst passwords list shows, you can’t stop everyone from using bad passwords. However, you can prevent hackers from accessing passwords by using a Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) solution. Here’s how.
An Identity Platform can help companies implement industry-standard hashing algorithms that protect passwords during transit or at rest. This is an effective way to prevent data from being exposed to hackers.
With the increase in frequency and complexity of attacks, companies could also utilize additional features like two-factor authentication, risk-based authentication, and passwordless login.
By implementing these features, companies can increase security to customer accounts that will help prevent data breaches and hacks.
A CIAM solution also saves resources. Your support and development teams can devote their time to growing your business rather than responding to data breaches.
Overall, bad passwords coupled with smart hackers are a big problem for businesses. To protect your company from costly hacks and breaches, you need cybersecurity that prevents access to your sensitive data. For state-of-the-art cybersecurity and enhanced customer experience, choose a globally-certified CIAM solution like LoginRadius.
