Hacks reveal many people use one size fits all password online

Meinel suggests that users invent much more secure passwords than 123456 and regularly change them.

Many Internet users are putting themselves at risk of being hacked by using the same email address and password combination for numerous online services.

That has been revealed by an analysis by the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) of passwords made public after being hacked. Major platforms such as LinkedIn, Yahoo and Myspace were all hit by the leaks.

While the German-based HPI had nothing to do with the break-ins, it opted to trawl through the hacked data, analysing about a billion user accounts.

The study found about 20% of people were using an identical password for different services. If largely similar passwords were included, the fraction rose to 27%.

The series of numbers 123456 was the most-used password, according to the study.

To safeguard themselves, HPI director Christoph Meinel suggests that users invent much more secure passwords than 123456 and regularly change them. A password manager program is ideal for this.

Those wanting to check if their user information was made public in the major breaches can do so for free at the HPI’s Identity Leak Checker. — dpa