Despite increasing attention to cyber security across the world, Belgians apparently remain fans of (very) simple number combinations, a new report by password manager Nordpass shows. Globally, "password" remains the most popular password.
The report looked for the 200 most common passwords across the world in 2022 and found that despite growing awareness, "old habits die hard."
Just over 1,000 Belgians stick to the rather easy "123456" combination, which also topped the list last year, according to the survey. Cyber experts calculated that this password can be retrieved by potential hackers in "less than a second."
Other easily cracked passwords that appear in the top 10 are the word "password" and the key combination "azerty." Too many people still opt for prefer speed and ease of use over security, said Nordpass on its website.
'Password'
"123456" is not only proving to be very popular in Belgium, but in other countries too. Although the password "password" can be retrieved by hackers in less than a second, it remains the sixth most-used choice in Belgium and even tops the international rankings.
Additionally, many internet users also choose to use their own name or that of a pet in their password. Personal preferences, however, are also reflected as pop culture apparently plays a big role in how people secure themselves online: famous artists, popular video games, fashion brands or cars are often reflected in passwords. Swear words like "fuck" or "fuckoff" are also proving very popular.
Nordpass stresses the importance of creating a strong password: longer combinations peppered with both lower and upper case letters, as well as numbers and foreign characters. Additionally, it is equally important not to use the same password for different platforms such as mailboxes, social media accounts and online shops.
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Even more secure than a good password is two-step verification, Director of the Centre for Cyber Security Belgium (CCB) Miguel De Bruycker said on Flemish radio on Sunday morning.
"Many companies already use this to let their employees log into company profiles. Besides entering a password, confirmation is also requested via an automated phone call or a text message with a code in it. An inconvenient diversion for some people, but one that makes it much more difficult for internet criminals."
Belgium's top 10 most common passwords:
- 123456
- akubisa2020
- letmein123
- 303030
- ilove12345@
- password
- Garba3060
- azerty
- sonia
- 123456789
Worldwide top 10 most common passwords:
- password
- 123456
- 123456789
- guest
- qwerty
- 12345678
- 111111
- 12345
- col123456
- 123123
