The list of this year’s 25 “worst” passwords says a lot about us.
“Starwars” (No. 16) reflects a resurgent force in popular culture.
“Whatever” (No. 23) and “letmein” (No. 7) seem to speak to an exasperation with online security itself.
And “password” (No. 2) speaks to our collective lack of creativity.
They are among the 11 new entrants to the annual “worst passwords” list, compiled by SplashData, a company that creates applications for password management and security. The popularity and simplicity of those passwords pose risks for those who use them, the company said.
“Hackers know your tricks, and merely tweaking an easily guessable password does not make it secure,” Morgan Slain, SplashData’s chief executive, said in a news release. “Our hope is that our Worst Passwords of the Year list will cause people to take steps to protect themselves online.”
The analysis was based on more than five million leaked passwords, most of them used by people in North America and Western Europe.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/20/business/worst-passwords.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FComputer+Security+%28Cybersecurity%29&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection
