Take a look at the world's most overused passwords to make sure yours isn't on the list

Having strong passwords that aren't easy to guess is crucial in a highly connected world where cyberattacks by hackers are on the rise. These days sites encourage people to add special characters and numbers to passwords so that cybercriminals can't figure them out using an individual's personal details such as the date of birth. This plays a major role in the lives of people today as unauthorized access to a smartphone or laptop, or a Google account, can allow hackers to look at their entire lives and hijack their digital presence. This is where a list of the world's most overused passwords comes in, allowing people to make sure theirs isn't that easy to guess.

Recently NordPass, the password management tool from the team behind NordVPN, released a study revealing the 200 most common passwords used in 2023. The study also said that out of the world's 20 most common passwords, 17 can be cracked in less than a second.

The most common passwords are some of the easiest combinations indicating that people don't think much when it comes to safeguarding their accounts against guesswork. The study also showed that more than 86% of cyberattacks use these stolen credentials to attack devices.

Topping the list was '123456' which had been used 4,524,867 times in the past year, while 'admin' came in at the second position since it was used 4,008,850 times. Other variations of the same number sequence were also seen among the top five on the list, with 12345678 coming in at 3rd position after being used by 1,371,152 people. Other easy passwords that were mentioned in the study are, 'password' which has been used 710,321 times in 2023, while 'Aa123456' was the choice of 319,725 users.

Another extremely common number sequence that was seen in the list was, '000000' and 'Admin' has been consistently making it to the list of the most used passwords for several years now.

"It’s one of the passwords that people do not bother changing," the report said. "Instead of improving password creation habits, internet users have gone in another direction by sticking to already pre-configured passwords."

The report also showed how using names is also a very popular choice around the globe. For instance, the name 'Isabella' was the most used password in Austria this year apart from a combination of names and numbers which also remained a favorite among users globally.

In a world filled with people looking to scam you, it's important to exercise caution in a few aspects of life to keep accounts safe. One of the many habits that you should adopt is to change passwords regularly. Also, make sure you are not using any information like birthdays, names, or other personal details. Making the switch from passwords to passkeys is also advised since it helps people secure their accounts with pins or fingerprints.

Another common mistake that people make is to use the same password for all platforms. It's important to use unique passwords for each platform to keep them safe in case one is hacked.