Study Found That Millions of People Still Use Easy-to-Guess Passwords

If you have a phone or you are constantly online, then you must have a password in order to access certain accounts. You may also have had to open many accounts which might make you use passwords that are easy to remember. But the threat of hackers gaining access to your account with sensitive information may probably make you want to be careful about the password you use.

Indeed, if you use well-known words or names for password will put you at risk of being hacked.

However, a new study shows that, despite various warnings, millions of people are still using easy-to-guess passwords for their personal accounts.

An analysis by the British National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) on public database of breached accounts found that 123456 was the most widely-used password, appearing in more than 23 million passwords. The second-most popular is 123456789 followed by "qwerty", "password" and 1111111.

As for names used in passwords, Ashley is the most popular. Others are Michael, Daniel, Jessica and Charlie. When it comes to Premier League football teams, Liverpool are first and Chelsea are second in password choice.

Such easy-to-guess passwords make it easy for hackers to crack an account. That's why the NCSC is urging people to string three random but memorable words together to use as a strong password.

According to Dr Ian Levy, technical director of the NCSC, "nobody should protect sensitive data with something that can be guessed, like their first name, local football team or favourite band."

So knowing which passwords are widely used should move you to make better choices. As security expert Troy Hunt explains, picking a good password was the "single biggest control" people had over their online security.