Brits appear to be less concerned about the security of their online accounts, according to new research into the UK’s most popular passwords.
While we really should know better, “password” itself is the preferred choice across the country — with minor variations like “password1” and “password123” not far behind.
It overtook last year’s “123456” as the nation’s most popular chocolate teapot for website security, according to an annual study by password management company NordPass.
Other common key combinations that feature prominently on the list are “qwerty” and “abc123,” and many of us feel confident enough in our counting skills to count our passwords all the way to “12345678.”
Names and sports teams are also popular, with Liverpool topping their current Premier League position in the 2022 crypto table.
Here are the top 20:
1. Password
2. 123456
3. Guests
4. Liverpool
5. Keyboard
6. Arsenal
7. 123456789
8. Password 1
9. 12345
10. 12345678
11. Chelsea
12. Charlie
13. abc123
14. Liverpool 1
15. Parola 12
16. Football
17. Monkey
18. Chocolate
19. Yuantuo 2012
20. let me
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While this list of passwords might make you shake your head, it’s also a sign that we’re getting smarter about securing our accounts.
NordPass said it had fewer password samples than usual for its research this year as more people adopted measures such as multi-factor authentication.
This is when people choose to log into their accounts using authentication apps on their phones, which now often include hardware features like facial recognition, or via text messages and alternate email addresses.
“Passwords are losing their value as the technology becomes more widely adopted,” said Ieva Soblickaite, chief product officer at NordPass.
“Even if the password is cracked, if the user turns on MFA, the identity authentication cannot be completed.”