The 25 Worst Passwords of 2011

The quality of computer passwords can vary greatly – but some are just bad! Learn what have been selected as the worst passwords of 2011.
February 2012
by Robin Wark
Getting hacked is as easy as “123456″ when you are using one of the worst passwords possible.
This is a lesson the Syrian government found out. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported in early February that Anonymous hacked the office of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The hacker group posted hundreds of emails online, including prep notes for a 2011 ABC News interview with Barbara Walters. Seventy-eight government staffer inboxes were accessed. According to Anonymous, some of the users had passwords such as “iloveyou” and “123456″. Thirty-one had apparently used “12345″.
Both “123456″ and “iloveyou” were rated among the 25 Worst Passwords of 2011, according to SplashData. See the complete list below:

1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football

Concerned about the strength of your password? Run a free scan to ensure a weak password hasn’t resulted in a compromised computer:
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Avoid bad passwords
With some thought and ingenuity you can come up with a password that you can remember but that still is hard to crack. Here are some suggestions to consider:

• Some general rules to follow are:
1. Use a password with at least eight characters.
2. Try to work in at least one number and one symbol.
3. Don’t just place a number after your regular password.
4. Stay away from common phrases and slang terms.
• If you couldn’t tell from the list above, do not use consecutive numbers!
• Try not to use to use personal information, such as your address, birthdate or names of close family members.
• Don’t use your name or email address. Avoid using parts of these as well.
• Avoid using patterns on the keyboard such “qwerty” (start of the top line) or “qazwsx” (the first three lines typed vertically).
• Words spelled backwards are not as secure as you might think.
• Using zeros instead of Os can easily be figured out by password cracking programs.

While they might seem like a nuisance, passwords serve an important role of providing a line of defence between hackers and your information. A good password – which you change on a routine basis – is an important part of your computer’s security.