Alert: Using ‘123456’ as your password? Here’s why that’s dangerous

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu) : '123456' has become the most used password in India for the second consecutive year, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Password manager NordPass analyzed passwords used by users in 44 countries, with a particular focus on passwords used by different generations. The report found that Indians use significantly weaker and more guessable passwords.

The most commonly used passwords include '123456', followed by 'PASS@@123', 'ADMIN', '12345678', '12345' and '123456789'. The report said that passwords like 'ADMIA@@123', 'PASSWORD@@123' and 'ABCD@@1234' were easily cracked despite the use of capital letters.

The research note stated that many Indians prefer to strengthen their passwords with special characters, but simple patterns can easily be used by hackers. Experts cautioned that passwords created using names may appear unique, but they can be easily cracked through automated attacks. 123456 is the most commonly used password not only in India but globally as well. This is followed by ADMIN and 12345678.

NordPass's Head of Product, Karolis Urbasiauskas, said that despite years of awareness campaigns, password hygiene has been slow to improve. Urbasiauskas further stated that until passwordless authentication methods like Passkey become widespread, strong and unique passwords are essential. "Nearly 80 percent of data breaches are caused by weak, reused, or compromised passwords," he said. The report also found that there are no significant generational differences in password usage.

The most popular passwords among 18-year-olds are very similar to those used by 80-year-olds. Passwords like “12345” and “123456” are popular across all age groups.