Most of us routinely use passwords so simple, a monkey could figure them out. In fact, “monkey” is one of our favourites.
Amichai Shulman is the chief technology officer at Imperva, which makes software for thwarting hackers. Recently, he undertook a study of 32 million passwords stolen by an unknown hacker from Rockyou!, an online service that makes widgets for social networking sites like Facebook.
The list is depressing testimony to our collective lack of creativity in the arena of personal security.
“I guess it’s just a flaw in human genetics,” Shulman told the New York Times.
Bottom line, if your password is your first name and your secret first name isn’t NEhBuT3W4l.6, better think about making a switch.
Here they are, listed 1 through 32, in order of popularity:
1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123
11. nicole
12. daniel
13. babygirl
14. monkey
15. jessica
16. lovely
17. michael
18. ashley
19. 654321
20. qwerty
21. iloveu
22. michelle
23. 111111
24. 0
25. tigger
26. password1
27. sunshine
28. chocolate
29. anthony
30. angel
31. FRIENDS (yes, all caps)
32. soccer
