The release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi led to the use of ‘Starwars’ as a common password choice for netizens, while ‘123456’ topped the the worst password list for a third year in a row.
Maker of password management apps, SplashData has released its annual list of worst passwords used by people on the internet. 2017 saw ‘123456’ top the charts for a third time in a row as the worst password of the year, while those who were “smarter” (Read: Sarcasm) chose ‘1234567’ and the even “wiser” ones (Sarcasm again) opted for ‘12345678’.
What’s new this year you ask? Well, thanks to the buzz around Star Wars: The Last Jedi, many netizens opted to show their love for the cult franchise by changing their passwords to ‘Starwars’, which became the 16th worst password of 2017. ‘Starwars’ has risen in the ranks for the worst passwords, up from 25th position in 2015 to the 16th in 2017. Come on people! You can do better than just the name of the movie. Might we suggest something like ‘R2D2St@rW@r$’.
“Hackers are using common terms from pop culture and sports to break into accounts online because they know many people are using those easy-to-remember words," said SplashData CEO Morgan Slain. "Unfortunately, while the newest episode may be a fantastic addition to the Star Wars franchise, ‘starwars’ is a dangerous password to use,” added Slain.
Here are SplashData's Top 25 worst passwords:
1 – 123456 (ranking unchanged since 2016 list)
2 – password (ranking unchanged)
3 – 12345678 (up 1)
4 – qwerty (up 2)
5 – 12345 (down 2)
6 – 123456789 (new)
7 – letmein (new)
8 – 1234567 (Unchanged)
9 – football (down 4)
10 – iloveyou (new)
11 – admin (up 4)
12 – welcome (unchanged)
13 – monkey (new)
14 – login (down 3)
15 – abc123 (down 1)
16 – starwars (new)
17 – 123123 (new)
18 – dragon (up 1)
19 – passw0rd (down 1)
20 – master (up 1)
21 – hello (new)
22 – freedom (new)
23 – whatever (new)
24 – qazwsx (new)
25 – trustno1 (new)
Follow Us
Digit NewsDesk
Digit News Desk writes news stories across a range of topics. Getting you news updates on the latest in the world of tech. View Full Profile
