No matter what the experts say, it’s hard to break habits, including the habit of creating awful passwords. Now, thanks to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, references to the galaxy far, far away are bad, too.
SplashData released its annual list of worst passwords on Monday and the Top 10 list looks nearly the same as the 2013 and 2014 lists. Since the 2013 list, “123456” has been considered the worst password. That also “won” the title in 2014. Both lists had “password” at No. 2 and that kept the runner-up spot in 2015.
Interestingly (but perhaps not unexpectedly), Star Wars references entered the Top 10. “Princess” came in at No. 21, while “Solo” is No. 23. “Starwars” came in at No. 25.
Also, if you think you’re smart by using “passw0rd” instead of “password,” you’re not. “Passw0rd” came in at No. 24.
Sports are also a bad idea. “Football” came in at No. 7 and “baseball” is No. 10. If you want to use a sports reference, you have to get a bit more detailed.
SplashData’s three hints for creating a secure password are: use passwords or phrases that have 12 or more characters and mixed types of characters; use different passwords for each website you use; and use a password manager to organize and create random passwords.
Here’s the full list:
1 - 123456 (unchanged from 2014)
2 - password (unchanged)
3 - 12345678 (Up 1)
4 - qwerty (Up 1)
5 - 12345 (Down 2)
6 - 123456789 (Unchanged)
7 - football (Up 3)
8 - 1234 (Down 1)
9 - 1234567 (Up 2)
10 - baseball (Down 2)
11 - welcome (New)
12 - 1234567890 (New)
13 - abc123 (Up 1)
14 - 111111 (Up 1)
15 - 1qaz2wsx (New)
16 - dragon (Down 7)
17 - master (Up 2)
18 - monkey (Down 6)
19 - letmein (Down 6)
20 - login (New)
21 - princess (New)
22 - qwertyuiop (New)
23 - solo (New)
24 - passw0rd (New)
25 - starwars (New)
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