Worst Passwords of 2021
We are becoming more aware as time goes by of how important it is to use a strong and secure password. I’m sure we’ve seen the term ‘strong password’ a lot over the past few years, but what does it actually mean?
What is a strong password?
Password strength is a measure of effectiveness against guessing or brute-force attacks. The ‘stronger’ the password, the less chance that someone will guess or crack it, and therefore there is less of a chance that you will be vulnerable to an attack online.
How to create a strong password
The most basic principles of creating a strong password include:
- Don’t reuse passwords
We understand that it can be difficult to keep track of multiple different passwords, however, it is vital not to reuse passwords. If someone gained access to an account where you use a password that is the same as another, it doesn’t take this person very long to gain access to your other account(s) that use this password. - Make your password long
This is critical. Create your password with no less than 16 characters, if possible. It is a lot easier to crack a 5-character password than it is a 16-character password. - Use uppercase and lowercase letters
The more mixed up the cases on your letters, the harder it is to crack. Although we don’t recommend, HeLLowORlD (1 month to crack) is a lot harder to crack than helloworld (58 minutes to crack).
- Use numbers and symbols
By using numbers and symbols in your passwords, this throws another spanner into the works for hackers and makes your password stronger and more secure.For example, if you added some numbers and symbols to our previous password example of HeLLowORlD, and made it to be @12HeLLowORlD12@, it would now take a computer 1 trillion years to hack, compared to 1 month.
- Use a password manager
If you find it hard to not use the same password for multiple sites, we recommend using a Password Manager that can store all of your passwords securely. Bonus to a password manager is that most can generate a strong password and save it securely for you.
Most common and worst passwords of 2021
Below you will find a list of the most common and worst passwords of 2021 – according to SplashData and NordPass. If you find that your password(s) are on this list, we plead that you immediately change it to a strong one.
For the most recent list, see Worst Passwords of 2024. If your business needs help with password policies and staff training, see our Managed Cyber Security services.
| No. | Password | Time to crack it |
|---|---|---|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | 123456 123456789 picture1 password 12345678 111111 123123 12345 1234567890 senha | < 1 sec < 1 sec 3 hrs < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec 10 sec |
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 1234567 qwerty abc123 Million2 000000 1234 iloveyou aaron431 password1 qqww1122 | < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec 3 hrs < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec 3 hrs < 1 sec 52 min |
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 | 123 omgpop 123321 654321 qwertyuiop qwer123456 123456a a123456 666666 asdfghjkl | < 1 sec 2 min < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec 4 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec |
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 | ashley 987654321 unknown zxcvbnm 112233 chatbooks 20100728 123123123 princess jacket025 | 2 min < 1 sec 17 min < 1 sec < 1 sec 1 day < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec 8 hrs |
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 | evite 123abc 123qwe sunshine 121212 dragon 1q2w3e4r 5201314 159753 123456789 | 10 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec 26 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec |
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 | pokemon qwerty123 Bangbang123 jobandtalent monkey 1qaz2wsx abcd1234 default aaaaaa soccer | < 1 sec < 1 sec 2 days 3 years < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec 3 min < 1 sec < 1 sec |
61 52 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 | 123654 ohmnamah23 12345678910 zing shadow 102030 11111111 asdfgh 147258369 qazwsx | < 1 sec 12 days < 1 sec 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec |
71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 | qwe123 michael football baseball 1q2w3e4r5t party daniel asdasd 222222 myspace1 | < 1 sec 8 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec 10 sec 5 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec 3 hrs |
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 | asd123 555555 a123456789 888888 7777777 fuckyou 1234qwer superman 147258 999999 | < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec |
91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 | 159357 love123 tigger purple samantha charlie babygirl 88888888 jordan23 789456123 | < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec < 1 sec |
Data from table above has been gathered from NordPass.com.