The password top ten
Following a security snafu at the RockYou social media site in December, security researchers were able to obtain its file of 32 million passwords and see which passwords are used most often.
Database security firm Imperva analysed the frequency of each password used and published a report entitled Consumer Password Worst Practices in which it disclosed the most common choices amongst RockYou users. These are its top ten:
1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123
If you've looked at that list and spotted your own favourite password in there, shame on you. The study also noted that a large proportion of users chose a password which was some variation on their name, and our own experience tells us that people often use the reverse spelling of their first name and think no-one will ever guess it. Others that we see time and again include "opensesame" and "letmein".
28th January 2010