Don’t Use These Common Passwords, Like Ever

Passwords have been part of our digital lives for a long time now and yet far too many of us still don’t know how to choose a good one. Case in point, NordPass has released a report on the most common passwords in Australia and… yikes.

NordPass is one of the many password manager companies I’m going to say loads of people should really consider after seeing some of the worst passwords this year. Digital security is no joke in this day and age. Barely a week goes by where we don’t hear about some service being hacked, so having a strong password is a must.

Let’s take a look at what not to do.

Australia’s most common passwords for 2021

According to NordPass’ research, the most popular password in Australia is… 123456. Very original, guys. In fact, it’s so original that it’s the top password in 43 of the countries analysed.

Here are the top 20 most commonly used passwords in Australia this year:

1. 123456
2. password
3. lizottes
4. password1
5. 123456789
6. 12345
7. abc123
8. qwerty
9. 12345678
10. holden
11. charlie
12. 1234567
13. qwerty1
14. 111111
15. dragon
16. 1234
17. 1234567890
18. qwerty123
19. australia
20. princess

You can see all the top passwords across 50 different countries in the full report from NordPass.

The research report had some interesting insights into Aussies password habits. Apparently, sports and football-related passwords are common as are pop culture words like movie titles, character names and music bands.

QWERTY, however, is a universal favourite.

In terms of risk, NordPass’ report puts Australia in the high-risk category amongst the 50 countries included. We also have 85,083,432 passwords leaked per capita which is not great.

How to choose a better password

If you see your password in the list above it’s probably time to start using a different one, as well as changing all your existing accounts.

John Karklys, CEO of NordPass, had some tips on the back of the password research report. These are the things he outlines in a press release:

1. If you found your password on the list, make sure to change it to a unique and strong one. Ideally, use a password generator online or in your password manager app to create a truly complex password.
2. Store your passwords in a password manager. Nowadays, an average person has around 100 accounts, so it would be impossible to remember all the passwords if they are indeed unique and complex. Password managers are a great solution for that, but make sure to use a trustworthy, reliable, and, ideally, third-party audited provider.
3. Use multi-factor authentication. Whether it’s biometric authentication, a phone message, or a physical key, it’s always a good idea to add an extra security layer on top of your password.

You have to create an account for basically everything these days. As your number of passwords grow it’s more important than ever to make sure they’re strong and secure so you don’t have a single point of failure.

Consider this your reminder to go and change all your passwords, particularly if they’re 123456.