World Password Day is marked today, May 4th, a perfect day for NordPass to remind internet users of the most common mistakes when creating their passwords.
Therefore, a company compiled key insights from every password-related study it has ran the past few years, presenting a general overview of password habits worldwide. The research included both individuals and businesses.
Most common mistakes with passwords by general internet users
Every year, NordPass delivers its annual study revealing the 200 most common passwords globally and in different countries. In the 2022 edition, independent researchers analyzed 30 countries worldwide and dug deeper into how pop culture influences our password habits. Here is the full report.
- The creative “password” is now the world’s most common password, pushing the annual winner “123456” to second place.
- Culture, lifestyle trends, and recent events have a huge effect on people’s password choices. For example, team names (i.e., Red Star Belgrade, Detroit Red Wings) or their variations make extremely popular passwords.
- Internet users are found guilty again of using the simplest combinations of numbers and letters to secure their accounts — “qwerty,” “1q2w3e,” “abc123,” and similar passwords top the list.
- People extensively use names, curse words, and words of affection to secure their accounts.
The world’s wealthiest companies
This year, NordPass, in partnership with independent cybersecurity researchers, also looked into the passwords used in the world’s richest companies (by market capitalization). This study found out what the employees operating in 20 different industries use to secure corporate accounts. Here is the full report.
- The largest companies’ employees were found guilty of using terrible passwords. As many as 32% of wealthiest businesses’ passwords reference the company, for instance, the company name, part of it, the email domain, or the company’s product.
- All of the 20 analyzed industries had both “password” and “12345” among the top 7 most commonly used passwords.
- Dictionary words or their variations are often used as passwords among largest companies’ employees. For instance, the password “dummies” ranks 6th among consumer goods sector employees, “sexy4sho” 16th among real estate employees, and “snowman” 11th in the energy field.
A few years back, NordPass also revealed passwords trending within the Fortune 500 companies in the US.
High-level business executives
NordPass has also published research revealing the password habits of managerial-level executives. Researchers examined different executives roles — CEOs, C-level executives, management, and business owners. Here is the full report.
- Among different roles of business executives examined is a visible trend to use easily hackable passwords that mainly include sequential combinations of numbers or letters. These include but are not limited to “1q2w3e,” “12345,” “11111,” and “qwerty.” The winner in all categories remains “123456,” with the password “password” coming in second.
- The top executives also extensively use names of people (i.e., Tiffany, Charlie, Michael, Jordan) and mythical creatures or animals (i.e., dragon, monkey) in their passwords.
ABOUT NORDPASS
NordPass is a password manager for both business and consumer clients. It’s powered by the latest technology for the utmost security. Developed with affordability, simplicity, and ease of use in mind, NordPass allows users to access passwords securely on desktop, mobile, and browsers. All passwords are encrypted on the device, so only the user can access them. NordPass was created by the experts behind NordVPN — the advanced security and privacy app trusted by more than 14 million customers worldwide. For more information: nordpass.com.
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