These passwords are easily hacked; tips to strengthen your online security

Cybercriminals can access large amounts of online users' information by using a tactic called 'credential stuffing,' which occurs when they purchase or reuse lists of commonly used and stolen passwords and "stuff" them into the login fields of websites. — Image by Freepik

STATEN ISLAND: Cybercriminals have been thriving in the stolen username and password business, and adding a number or the occasional capital letter is not enough to stop them.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center's annual report, nearly 190 million people were victims of an estimated 1,800 data breaches in 2021.

Data journalism website Stacker recently released a report in partnership with Twingate about the most common passwords used online. Twingate analysed a list, compiled by SecLists, of the top 200 most used passwords in 2020 and found the following patterns:

The most common passwords tend to use only letters or numbers.

— 45% of the top 200 contained letters only

— 28% contained numbers only

— 27% included both letters and numbers (no non-alpha numeric characters)

A large portion of top used passwords contain nouns.

— 40% of the top 200 contained nouns

Keyboard patterns are popular.

— 39% of the top 200 contained keyboard patterns such as "qwerty"

While less common, surprisingly multiple passwords included the word "password."

— Four passwords in the top 200 (2% of list) contained the term "password"

According to the report, if your password is in the following list, you are considered an easy hacking target:

— 123456

— 123456789

— picture1

— password

— 111111

— 123123

— 12345

— 1234567890

— senha

— 1234567

— qwerty

— abc123

— Million2

— 000000

— 1234

— iloveyou

— aaron431

— password1

— qqww1122

Lowering security risk

Cybercriminals can access large amounts of online users' information by using a tactic called "credential stuffing," which occurs when they purchase or reuse lists of commonly used and stolen passwords and "stuff" them into the login fields of websites.

According to a 2018 Google survey conducted by The Harris Poll, 65% of US adults admitted to using the same passwords for some, if not all, of the websites that they use, which makes them susceptible to being hacked on numerous accounts with the same password.

Tech companies, such as Apple, are creating alternatives to traditional passwords that are more secure and convenient. The technology utilises biometric data, including fingerprints and facial recognition.

In the meantime, the FBI recommends using "passphrases" — sentences — because longer passwords tend to require more time to decode than complex shorter ones. – Staten Island Advance, N.Y./Tribune News Service