Recycling the same password (or modifying it slightly) for every website
According to Wang's initial study, more than half of users reused the same password from site to site or modified it slightly.
“It is difficult for humans to memorize unique passwords for the 150+ accounts the average person has,“ Wang said in a statement. “Inevitably, people reuse or slightly modify them, which is a dangerous practice. This danger has been amplified by the massive data breaches which have given attackers more effective tools for guessing and hacking passwords.”
Password walking
Password walking refers to the practice of using combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols that are adjacent to one another on the keyboard, like “qwerty” and “123456.”
Here are some other common password walking Dashlane researchers found:
1q2w3e4r
1qaz2wsx
1qazxsw2
zaq12wsx
!qaz2wsx
1qaz@wsx
Strong expressions of love or hate
Another common practice Dashlane researchers found: strong expressions of love or hate, with hateful passwords most often expressed with choice words.
Here are the most common love/hate passwords Dashlane found:
iloveyou
f*ckyou
a**hole
f*ckoff
iloveme
trustno1
beautiful
ihateyou
bullsh*t
lovelove
Now that you know what to avoid, here are some ways to write good, hacker-proof passwords.
Use a unique password for every online account
Generate passwords that exceed the minimum of 8 characters
Create passwords with a mix of case-sensitive letters, numbers, and special symbols
Avoid using passwords that contain common phrases, slang, places, or names
Use a password manager to help generate, store, and manage your passwords
Never use an unsecured Wi-Fi connection