These Passwords Can Be Cracked By Hackers In Under A SECOND – And Many Of You Probably Use Them

We all know what a massive problem identity theft and hacking are in our current internet-based society.

With our bill payments, major banking transactions, and financial statements all online, it’s important to protect this information as well as possible.

Suuurely you know by now not to use the word “Password” as your password… right? (Don’t do it folks, seriously) but it turns out MANY of the passwords you may be using are still putting you at significant risk.

According to this:

Tech experts from online electrical retailer AO.com have revealed the ten most commonly used passwords in the UK from the last year, including qwerty and 123123, would take an expert less than one second to crack.

 

While some people think they’re safe by choosing a memorable word, such as a partner’s name, this doesn’t make you any safer.

 

Hackers will go after personal information such as a date of birth, pet’s name or the street someone grew up on, which can easily be deduced from social media profiles.

 

A date of birth separated by full stops, for instance, would take a hacker just 13 seconds to crack.

So, what are passwords you should NEVER use?

123456 1234567890
123456789 1234567
qwerty password
12345678 123123
111111 987654321

A hacker or someone trying to steal your identity will try all of these first. You may as well not have a password.

There’s things you should definitely avoid using, because creepily enough, someone who wants to steal your identity probably already knows the answers to these questions:

Your name, partner’s or family member’s name
Your pet’s name
The name of the street you grew up on
Your favorite place to go on vacation
Your favorite sports team

Yeeeeeahhhhh….. some of you are guilty of a few of those, aren’t you?

So, definitive tips for a crack-proof password?

Choose a password that’s made up of three random, unrelated words.

A good example is ‘teabrownpicture’ and it would take 35,000 years to crack.

Adding a number to the end of the three random words ups the ante to 227 million years.

And FINALLY (and in my opinion, the biggest challenge!) always have different passwords for each account.

Gonna be honest… I’m not doing what I should…. but I’m going to now!