If your password is on this list, change it now: ‘Like leaving the front door unlocked’

Your password may be easier to hack than you realize.

New data has revealed the most vulnerable and commonly used passwords that can be easily hacked.

According to Forbes, software company anyIP found that “password” was the most used login credential.

In the US, “password” is the “third most popular password”, according to the researchers, but it holds the “top spot” in Australia and the UK.

Next on the list of most hacked passwords were “qwerty123”, “qwerty1” and “123456”, of which the latter is “particularly prevalent due to its ease of recall”, according to the report’s authors.

For the findings, they used search results and NordPass data that analyzed how often specific passwords were used in hacking attempts.

“Nearly 50% of the most used passwords around the globe this year consist of simple keyboard patterns of letters and numbers,” anyIP researchers reported.

According to NordPass’ list of the 200 worst passwords worldwide, “123456” has been used over 3 million times.

“These findings highlight the alarming prevalence of predictable and easily hacked passwords,” Every IP co-founder Khaled Bentoumi told Forbes.

“Hackers are using increasingly sophisticated tools to breach accounts in seconds, and relying on weak passwords is akin to leaving the front door open.”

While each IP’s list was UK-specific, listing well-known countries and sports teams in Britain, Forbes reported that switching terms for US names would be the same – and just as ineffective at protecting accounts.

When filtered down to US-specific results, NordPass’ index of easily hacked credentials found that “secret” was the top result, used more than 328,000 times. “1234456” and “password” fell to second and third place, while other popular and simple passwords such as “iloveyou”, “baseball”, “monkey” and “sunshine” were among the top 20.

Earlier this month, cybersecurity experts revealed that complex passphrases aren’t as secure as users might think.

In an update from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the agency found that hard-to-remember passwords with a jumble of letters, symbols and numbers strain users’ memories and that they should focus on length.