if you use any password from this “Top 25” you should change it before being hacked

In matters of security and passwords, it is better to use your imagination. Says the Civil Guard, which has just published a list as peculiar as it is interesting: a “TOP 25” of passwords that are particularly insecure because of how popular and predictable they are. If you use one with the dubious honor of being ranked, the advice is clear: change it before someone else profits from it at your expense.

“The password of your device is 123456? Congratulations! You have won the #PremioAlMasOriginal. What is your prize? Have the possibility to change it before they hack you“, has published the Benemérita, pulling irony. His message accompanies it with a detailed list of the twenty keys.

That the list is headed by the hackneyed combination 123456 It may not be too surprising, but the list includes other passwords that are just as striking… and useful. In second place is password and in the third 12345678. THE “TOP 5” is completed with qwerty and another version somewhat different from the first: 12345.

The risk of using any of these formulas, as emphasized by the Civil Guardis that our account or device is more vulnerable to attack. If our key is one of the most predictable, whoever wants to use it will have it much easier.

The list of the armed institute is revealing for another reason: it reports how each of those 25 passwords have varied in position over the last decade.

123456 y password They remain in the lead, without changes, but in the rest of the ranking there have been interesting movements. One of the ones that has climbed the most steps —with which it is (even) less original— is football, which has risen three places to seventh place. Opposite trend experienced word dragonwhich seems to have lost traction as a key, after dropping seven positions.

The list of the Civil Guard also abounds with combinations and keyboard games, such as qwertyuiop, 1qaz2wsx o 111111. There are also options that have crept onto the payroll in recent years, such as princess o starwars.

The Civil Guard does not reveal how it has prepared the table, nor does it provide more details about the criteria it has followed or what studies it has been based on, but its tweet leaves a clear message: If you use any of the keys from their list, it is better that you change it to some more elaborate option before you suffer a hack.

His is by no means the first report on passwords and vulnerability. Not long ago I launched a study on the same subject NordPass. What combination topped your ranking? Exact. It is as easy to guess as it can be for a hacker to type it: the eternal 123456.

Cover image: Azamat E (Unplash)

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