• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Jobs
  • Career
    • Cyber Security Training
    • Work from Home
    • Cyber Security Analyst
    • Remote Work – Six Ways to Keep Your Data Safe When Working Remotely
  • Field Guide
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Deals
  • News
AskCyberSecurity.com

AskCyberSecurity.com

Cyber Security News & Information

  • Home
  • Data Privacy
    • Gamers
    • Government Cyber Security
      • Legislation
      • Standards
        • What are the risks of computer security?
        • Medical Cyber Security
    • Social Media
  • Security
    • Data Breaches
    • Scams
      • Identity theft
    • Malware
      • Ransomware
  • Software
    • Apps
    • Web Browsers
  • Glossary
    • Cyber Security Acronyms
  • About Ask Cyber Security
    • Authors
    • Contact Us
  • VPN
    • How Do I Know If My VPN is Working?
    • Best Free VPN iPhone
    • Why Use a VPN?
    • NordVPN vs IPVanish
    • Private Internet Access Download
    • Best VPN for Streaming
      • TikTok VPN
    • VPN Porn
    • Computer Security Software – What You Really Need
  • Tutorials
AskCyber Home » News » Passwords » The Most Common Hacked Passwords

The Most Common Hacked Passwords

2019-04-22 by Michelle Dvorak

Common Hacked Passwords

Most Commonly Hacked Passwords 2019

Analysis of the 100,000 most common passwords hacked globally was released in a report by Britain’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) The list is comprised of the top 10k passwords accessed by hackers. The hacked passwords were found to be involved in global cyber security breaches and are in circulation on the dark web. The list was released by NCSC in collaboration with the Have I Been Pwned website.

Analysis of the most common passwords reveals a concerning cyber security practice. Predictable reused passwords present a real security issue for online accounts. Passwords need to be difficult to hack, but not difficult to remember. Choosing consecutive numbers and letters are easy to remember but terrible for online security. Many online systems don’t allow consecutive letters or numbers, but it obvious from this data that millions still do.

Password List
Password List

Hackers use repositories of common passwords, dictionary words, sports team names, and cities along with computer programs to brute force hack at login credentials. If a hacker has your email address, then they only need to use a computer algorithm to work toward gaining more access. Online credentials can be gleaned from social media accounts or from sniffing WiFi traffic. In a social engineering attack, hackers can scrape user password reset questions – like hometown and pet names – to reset your password.

People Worry About Cyber Security

The NCSC data was collected from a phone survey of the general public from November 2018 to January 2019. The survey found that 70% of respondents believed they would be a victim of a cyber crime within the next two years. Protecting their privacy was a concern for 51% of those surveyed while 52% were concerned about preventing their money from being stolen online. However, 46% found that information on how to be secure online was confusing with only 15% saying that they understood a great deal about how to protect themselves online.

Top Ten Most Common Passwords

  1. 123456
  2. 123456789
  3. qwerty
  4. password
  5. 111111
  6. 12345678
  7. abc123
  8. 1234567
  9. password1
  10. 12345

The data was taken from a global list of 100,000 most common passwords found on the dark web and therefore accessed by hackers. Rounding out the top ten most hacked passwords are 12345678, abc123, 1234567, password1, and 12345. If you want to see the full list, you can download it from the UK’s NCIS website.

The top hacked password is the first six numbers from a standard keypad. That’s just plain lazy. Over twenty-three million accounts were hacked by guessing the ultra-weak 123456 passwords. To get the second most hacked password, simply append three more numbers to arrive at 123456789 which had almost 7.7 million hacked accounts associated with it. The third most hacked password is also a low effort attempt at cyber security – qwerty – the name for a keyboard configuration taken from the first row of letters is associated with 3.8 million hacked accounts. Another horrifying member of the list comes in at number four with the actual word “password” which must be one of the lamest passwords of all time. The fifth most hacked password is a string of ones, 111111, that is associated with 3.6 million and 3.1 million hacked accounts respectively. These are all for listed on the dark web.

Number of Hacked Passwords / Accounts

  1. 123456 (23.2 million)
  2. 123456789 (7.7 million)
  3. qwerty (3.8 million)
  4. password (3.6 million)
  5. 111111 (3.1 million)

My Password is on the Hacked List. What Should I Do?

If you see a familiar password on this list, change it immediately. Developers can use the list to set up a system to ban them from the authentication process. Do not reuse passwords across multiple accounts. For example, don’t use the same password for your email as you do for your online banking.
Publishing this list of hacked passwords does not help hackers. The list was already out there on the dark web accessible by anyone who knows how to get to it. So, releasing the list makes no difference.

How to Create a Secure Password

Password re-use is a major cyber security risk that can be easily avoided with a little awareness and effort. Creating strong passwords also takes a little more effort, certainly more than using something as weak as password123 or the first six numbers on a keyboard. People names, bands, and sports team names are also common passwords that should not be used, even when coupled to strings of numbers. Blink182 was the most common band name seen on the hacked password list. Ashley and Michael were the most commonly used names.

Filed Under: Passwords Tagged With: hacking

About Michelle Dvorak

Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers


LinkedInTwitterFacebook

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Our Free Newsletter

We Don't Share or Sell Your Info

Web Browsers

Where Are My Saved Passwords in Chrome?

Google Removes 70 Malicious Browser Add-ons from Chrome Web Store

Firefox 75 Reports Your Browser Settings to Mozilla

511 Tactical

WHAT TO SHOP NOW

Shop

Safeguard Your Money with a VPN

Beat the Stock Market! - Get Rule Breakers!

Malwarebytes Anti-Virus is On Sale!

Shop Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Cyber Security Field Guide

Computer Security While TravelingGet Our Cyber Security Field Guide - Available on Amazon!

Recent Posts

NJCCIC Announces Alice in Cyberspace 2021

Email Service Cuts Off Gun Rights Nonprofit

Security Engineer – Amazon

PayPal Phishing Scam Steals Accounts

Gun Forum Booted by Domain Registrar

Categories

Cyber Security News

NJCCIC Announces Alice in Cyberspace 2021

… [Read More...] about NJCCIC Announces Alice in Cyberspace 2021

PayPal Phishing Scam Steals Accounts

… [Read More...] about PayPal Phishing Scam Steals Accounts

Gun Forum Booted by Domain Registrar

… [Read More...] about Gun Forum Booted by Domain Registrar

Classiscam Telegram Phishing Scam Targeting Europeans

… [Read More...] about Classiscam Telegram Phishing Scam Targeting Europeans

More Cyber Security News

Tags

amazon Android Apple bitcoin Career China chrome CISA credit card Cyber Attack Cyber security Data Breach data privacy DHS Equifax Facebook FBI Firefox FTC games GDPR Google Government hack hacker identity theft iPhone Iran IRS malware Microsoft North Korea PayPal phishing phishing email ransomware Russia scam smartphone TikTok tutorial VPN web browser WhatsApp WiFi

Government

FTC Releases Cyber Threat Video Playlist

Malware Found on US Government Funded Phones

UK NCA Reaches Out to Youth to Deter Cybercrimes

Texas DOT Hit by Ransomware Attack

More Posts from this Category

Footer

Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Authors
  • News
  • Newsletter Signup
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Search

Why Use a VPN?

NordVPN vs IPVanish VPN Review

NAVIGATION

  • Data Breaches
  • Data Privacy
  • Gamers
  • Scams
  • Malware

MEMBER NJCCIC

New Jersey Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell

STAY CONNECTED

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • RSS

Copyright © 2021 · AskCyberSecurity.com · METRONY, LLC

Go to mobile version