"123456" and "password" are officially 2018's worst passwords

You may be excused for using “123456” or “password” as passwords if today is your very first day ever using a computer or surfing the web – as a temporary measure of course. But it seems that a lot of people around the world have been enjoying their first time online, as these horrendous attempts at passwords have claimed the top two spots in SplashData’s top 100 worst passwords of 2018 list. There are the usual awful numeric passwords included (e.g. “111111” and the not-so-crafty “654321”) and common words like “sunshine” and the slightly ironic “admin" also make appearances.

But the list has thrown up some unexpected entries. In 18th place is “monkey,” which is the only animal to be found in the top 100 (as long as you don’t include “tigger” at #48 or “pussy” at #93). The password “donald” is high at #23, no doubt inspired by the current US president. Those trying to be wily with “passw0rd” have dropped in at #31 while impatient types have landed at #43 with “letmein.” Much of the list is filled with given names, simple numbers, sports and team names, city names, and years.

The list has been taken from five million passwords that have been leaked online. Of course, many of them could be work-related (see: “admin”) where people generally won’t put the same level of thought into a password, and some of them could be taken from sites where a login/password is only required for temporary use. However, it does seem #79 has the right idea but the wrong execution with “trustno1.” You can read through #100 to #50 here, and from #49 to #1 here.

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