Here are the most common passwords of 2021, is yours on the list?
Might be time to change it
Choose long and complex passwords
Passwords remain the main authentication mechanism for computers and network-based products and services. But we know people continue to choose weak passwords and often don’t manage them securely, leaving them vulnerable to online security threats.
Weak passwords are easy to guess and can be cracked with minimal difficulty by attackers usingbrute-force methods(trying all letter, number, and symbol combinations to find a match). They are also easy targets for adictionary attack, which is a systematic method attackers use to guess a password, trying many common words and variations of these.
To overcome the security issues associated with password-based authentication systems, researchers and developers are now focused on creating authentication systems whichdon’t relyon passwords at all.
In the meantime, two-factor authentication (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) methods are a good way to secure your accounts. These methods combine a password with biometrics information (for example, a face scan or fingerprint) or something you have, like a token.
You can create a password that’s both strong and memorable by combiningthree random words.Machine-generated passwordsare also difficult to guess and less likely to appear in password dictionaries used by attackers.
But of course, all of this is easier said than done. One of the challenges we face in today’s digital age is password overload. And it can be difficult to remember complex passwords, particularly machine-generated ones.
So it’s a good idea to use a reliable password manager for this purpose. Relying on your web browser to remember your passwords is less secure – it’s possible attackers can exploit vulnerabilities in the browser to access stored passwords.
NordPass’ findings, although not published in a peer-reviewed journal, align with what we know fromsimilar listspublished elsewhere – that the most popular passwords are weak.
Hopefully, if you see one of your passwords on this list, it will be an impetus to change it to something stronger. Ethical hackers – people who work to prevent computers and networks from being hacked – could also use these insights for good. On the other hand, we have to acknowledge the possibility that hackers could use this information to target password attacks. This should be all the more reason to strengthen your passwords.
Article byChaminda Hewage, Reader in Data Security,Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityandElochukwu Ukwandu, Lecturer in Computer Security, Department of Computer Science,Cardiff Metropolitan University
This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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