The worst passwords of 2016

123456

Major data breeches in 2016 exposed log-in information and passwords for millions of people. A number of companies made the best of a bad situation by evaluating the passwords and compiling lists of the most commonly used – and worst – passwords leaked over the internet in 2016. 

Tied for top honour for a sixth straight year on Splash Data’s worst password list are the passwords “password” and “123456”. Fellow contenders “passw0rd” and “password1” ranked slightly lower at numbers 18 and 25, respectively, and Star Wars received two nods with “solo” and “princess” cracking the top 15 at numbers 13 and 9. 

Don’t make a hacker’s job easy. 

Make sure your passwords are secure by using a variety of numbers, symbols, and upper- and lower-case letters. Make it a point to update your passwords regularly and use unique passwords for each site to decrease the chance of having multiple accounts hacked or your identity stolen. 

Check out 25 of the worst passwords for 2016 and learn more about how to keep your on-line identify safe: Worst passwords of 2016.

This article has been printed for entertainment purposes. The views and opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of GSU, its members, officers, or staff.