Imperva, which makes software for blocking hackers, examined a list of 32 million passwords that an unknown hacker stole last month from RockYou, a company that makes software for users of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. According to The New York Times, the list was briefly posted on the Web, and hackers and security researchers downloaded it. (RockYou, which had already been widely criticized for lax privacy practices, has advised its customers to change their passwords, as the hacker gained information about their e-mail accounts as well.)
The top 10 most common passwords were:
1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123
Others included words like:
Monkey
Babygirl
Lovely
Sunshine
Chocolate
Angel
FRIENDS
And number patterns such as 654321 and 111111, letter patterns like “Qwerty”, and popular first names like Jessica, Michael, Ashley, Anthony, Daniel, and Michelle were also popular.
About 20 percent of people on the RockYou list picked from the same, relatively small pool of 5,000 passwords, which means that hackers could easily break into many accounts just by trying the most common passwords, and do it with internet speed.
Experts say that ideally you would have different passwords for every web site you visit and store them in your head or, if absolutely necessary, on a piece of paper. But at least two different passwords — a complex one for Web sites were security is vital, such as banks and e-mail, and a simpler one for places where the stakes are lower, such as social networking and entertainment sites—would likely be enough to keep you safe. You could try using longer passwords, beyond the minimum, as well. But to avoid being the easy victim of a hacker, be more creative!
Tags: Internet Speed