The Latest in IT Security

The list, compiled by SplashData and drawn from passwords posted online following major web service hacks, such as the major breach at Adobe — the company behind Photoshop — highlights the risks consumers are still taking by choosing easy to remember rather than secure passwords. Consumers may well be suffering from password fatigue — the inability to continue to create and remember more and more unique log-ins as the number of web services they use proliferate — but that is still no excuse for using ‘qwerty (the fourth most common password) or ‘abc123 (number five) for protecting their most personal digital information. Another interesting aspect of this years list is that more short numerical passwords showed up even though websites are starting to enforce stronger password policies, said Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData. If sites were enforcing stricter password rules then it wouldnt be possible to set guessable passwords like ‘1234 (number 16), ‘12345 (at 20) or ‘000000 (number 25) as log-ins.