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Pinch me: In 2022 people are still using weak passwords

Too many passwords are too simple and hence easy to crack, as dark web leaked data reveals.

Image: © Thomas Samson, AFP
Image: © Thomas Samson, AFP

The Internet dominates much of our day-to-day activities (such as reading Digital Journal). In addition to catching up on the news, you can play games, connect with friends, and even go to school or work from home.  There is also a colossal amount of information to access (albeit some of this being of a dubious nature).

The use of the Internet presents some other risks as well, including those related to fraud and to cybercrime.

In 2021, there were 1,862 data breaches according to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2021 Annual Data Breach Report. That is an all-time high and a 68 percent increase over breaches in 2020.

According to the company Lookout, 80 percent of people’s emails are leaked on the dark web as a result of data breaches.

The dark web refers to encrypted online content that is not indexed by conventional search engines. The dark web is often used by people wishing to carry out illegal activities online, such as selling weapons or drugs.

When data breaches happen, passwords for online accounts are also commonly leaked, leaving consumers at risk for identity theft. Lookout has shared the top 10 passwords found on the dark web with Digital Journal. The simplicity of these exemplify the risk that many systems will be prone to.

So-termed simple passwords generally only have lower case letters and numbers. They are easier to remember but might also be easier for someone else to guess.

These passwords are:

  • 123456
  • 123456789
  • Qwerty
  • Password
  • 12345
  • 12345678
  • 111111
  • 1234567
  • 123123
  • Qwerty123

Do you spot your password on this list? If so, it will be best to try one of greater sophistication and thereby harder to crack.

Strong passwords vary. Ideally these should be least 12 characters long (the longer, the better) and have a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, and special symbols. Passwords also trend to be stronger when they are set randomly and are, as far as the user is aware, unique.

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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