If your password is 123456 here are 3 million reasons to change it

Key Takeaways

The five most popular passwords in the U.S. can be cracked in seconds, as they are made up of the most basic keyboard combinations.
NordPass’ study found basic passwords are being used in the corporate world too.
Password managers make it easy to generate, store, and autofill your passwords when you need them.

Password, oh password, what should my password be? That may be what you’re thinking every time you have to create a new password, but it’s important you create something strong and secure to keep your information safe and private. However, it seems some people are not taking that route.

In the sixth edition of its research, NordPass has revealed the top 200 most common passwords in 44 countries around the world (via Tom’s Guide). “We reviewed and analyzed a 2.5TB database extracted from various publicly available sources, including those on the dark web. No personal data was acquired or purchased to conduct this study,” NordPass said in its findings.

“123456” is the most common password globally, with 3 million uses. “123456789” is in second place, with1.6 million uses. Many of the world’s most common passwords are made from the easiest keyboard combinations of numbers and letters you can think of. And yes, that includes “qwerty.” But how are users in the U.S. doing with password making? The results, once again, are not the greatest.

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The top five passwords in the U.S. are crackable in seconds

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The macOS 15 lock screen asking for a password.

NordPass has created a list of the common password findings from countries around the world. The U.S.’s top five passwords may leave you scratching your head, and over a million people are using them. Here are the top five most common passwords in the U.S.:

1. secret (328,831 uses)

2. 123456 (260,428 uses)

3. password (227,219 uses)

4. qwerty123 (209,395 uses)

5. qwerty1 (201,365 uses)

The study found that most of the world’s most common passwords, including the top five in the U.S., can be cracked in less than a second. Last year, NordPass’ study found that 70 percent of the world’s most common passwords could be cracked in under a second. That number has now risen to 78 percent, signaling the issue is getting worse.

It’s not just personal passwords either. “The most common passwords people use at work aren’t all that different from the ones they use in their personal lives. It just goes to show that, at the end of the day, people are people – no matter where they are or what they’re up to, they share the same poor password habits,” NordPass said.

The most common corporate password in the world was once again “123456” with 1,223,447 uses. In the U.S., the most common corporate password was “password.” Good job America. But don’t worry, there are easy ways now to create — and most importantly remember — strong passwords.

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How to create and remember strong passwords

Luckily, there are lots of apps out there you can use to keep track of all your passwords

1Password / Pocket-lint

In all fairness, nowadays, we have passwords for so many different accounts, it can be hard to keep track of. Choosing something easy for your password may help you remember, but it isn’t the safest way to go about things.

Creating stronger passwords may be a bit time-consuming, but it’s worth it. NordPass recommends passwords should be at least 20 characters long, and include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special symbols. It’s also best to not use something that’s easily guessable, like common words or your birthday.

Using a trusted password manager app is a great way to keep track of your passwords and protect your accounts and private information. Google Password Manager and Apple Passwords are a great start, and easily accessible on most user’s devices. Plus, they’ll even autofill your passwords when you need them. There are also paid password managers you can look into too.