The most common mistakes people make when choosing passwords, according to research
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@wsxStrong 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 loveloveBrands
Researchers found that common brands also appeared in many passwords. Here are the most common brands used in passwords.
myspace mustang linkedin ferrari playboy mercedes cocacola snickers corvette skittlesPop culture references
Popular movies, music, and tv shows also made their way into passwords used in the study. Here are the most common ones.
superman pokemon slipknot starwars metallica nirvana blink182 spiderman greenday rockstarChampions League
Dashlane found a ton of sports-related passwords, but the Champions League (that's soccer, for Americans) topped them all. Here are the most common Champions League passwords:
liverpool chelsea arsenal barcelona manchesterNow that you know what to avoid, here are some ways to write good, hacker-proof passwords.
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