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This weak passwords story reminds me…

News
Oct 25, 20121 min
Data and Information SecurityNetwork Security

Our story this morning on weak passwords reminds me of some Hollywood moments.

We posted a story this morning about SplashData’s annual list of worst passwords used on the Internet, and as serious a problem as this is, I can’t help but see a lighter side to it all.

From the story:

“Jesus” was among the new entries in SplashData’s annual list of worst passwords used on the Internet, as people apparently looked toward a higher authority to protect them against hackers.

Other equally unsafe passwords that made their debut Wednesday on the top 25 list of 2012 were ninja, mustang, and password1. Unchanged from last year in the top three slots were password, 123456, and 12345678, respectively. Rounding out the top 10 passwords were abc123, qwerty, monkey, letmein, dragon, 111111 and baseball.

SplashData, which makes password management applications, bases its list on millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers. There have been several password hacks this year of high-profile sites, including Yahoo, LinkedIn, eHarmony and Last.fm.

The zany nature of how people pick their passwords has to be inspired by Hollywood. Consider the evidence:

Back to our regularly scheduled program.