Worst passwords of 2020 revealed: Is yours on the list?

The number sequence "123456" has once again topped the list of worst passwords of 2020, according to a new report by NordPass, a new generation password manager solutions provider.

NordPass's list of the worst 200 passwords of 2020 also includes easy-to-guess numbers like '123456789', the most obvious ones like 'password', positive words such as 'iloveyou', and random letters like 'abc123'. Notably, 78 of the passwords were new to the list.

Here are the top 20 worst passwords of 2020:

1. 123456
2. 123456789
3. picture1
4. password
5. 12345678
6. 111111
7. 123123
8. 12345
9. 1234567890
10. senha
11. 1234567
12. qwerty
13. abc123
14. Million2
15. 000000
16. 1234
17. iloveyou
18. aaron431
19. password1
20. qqww1122

In the above top 20 worst passwords list, with the exception of new entrants like 'picture 1', 'Million2' and 'aaron431' that take 3 hours to crack, all other passwords take less than a second to crack.

According to NordPass' research, the majority of people use simple and easy-to-remember passwords because it's convenient, but, the problem is that the most memorable passwords are highly vulnerable to cracking. Another study by CyberNews, in which 15 billion passwords were analyzed, showed the type of common words people used to create their passwords, mostly related to food, first names, cities, and even curse words.

NordPass advises people to avoid using dictionary words, number combinations, or strings of adjacent keyboard combinations like 'qwerty' or repetitive characters, such as 'aaaa' or '123abc' because they are too easy to crack.

Passwords based on personal details such as your phone number, birth date, or name should be avoided when creating a password. People should not reuse passwords across multiple accounts.

Here's what NordPass recommends for creating a strong password:

• Unique, long, and complicated passwords must be created for each online account.
• A combination of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols significantly lowers the risk of getting the passwords cracked
• Change your passwords at least every 90 days
• Employ a password generator to create a complex and robust password
• Set up a trustworthy password manager such as NordPass that will help you generate unique, strong passwords and securely store them in an encrypted vault