List Of Most Common Passwords You Should Never Use

A password is something most of us use in our daily lives. It might be in a different form, such as a combination for a safe, a biometric verification for our digital devices, and whatnot. It is there to protect our assets and properties from theft and safeguard our privacy. However, it is not one of the most securest means of protection.

Even after years of cybersecurity awareness and reports of fraudulent activities, we are still very far from securing our property at the hands of hackers because of using common and guess-able passwords. Did you know that, according to a SpecOps report, the most common passwords were used in an SMB protocol attack in the “Purple Fox” malware in 2018?

When you think that you have created a unique password, it is usually the opposite. Passwords today are easily reachable, especially if they are a common password. A common password qualifies that can be guessed easily, like “12345” and “qwerty.” Even if you set your password as your birthday, statistically, it is very predictable.

If you use a common password for any website or purpose, the chances of you getting hacked are extremely likely. Therefore, we have combined a list of the most common passwords in 2023, which we advise you not to use for any purposes.

See below if you made the list!

Common passwords in 2023 to avoid

Here is a list of the top 20 passwords that you must avoid at all costs:

1. 12345
2. 123456
3. 123456789
4. test1
5. password
6. 12345678
7. zinch
8. g_czechout
9. asdf
10. qwerty
11. 1234567890
12. 1234567
13. Aa123456.
14. iloveyou
15. 1234
16. abc123
17. 111111
18. 123123
19. dubsmash
20. test

That said, according to a SpecOps finding, 93% of brute-force attacks occur on passwords with 8 or more characters.

If you think that your password is still unique and does not make it to the top 20 list, we suggest that you also check the tool below and verify whether or not your password belongs in the database for common passwords:

HashWord Common Password Checker

Common password by country

This section lists the top 10 common passwords being used in different countries around the world in the given ranking.

Common passwords in the United States

1. guest
2. 123456
3. password
4. 12345
5. a1b2c3
6. 123456789
7. Password1
8. 1234
9. abcd123
10. 12345678

Common passwords in Canada

1. 123456
2. password
3. 54321
4. 123456789
5. guest
6. qwerty
7. 12345678
8. 1234567
9. 12345
10. abc123

Common passwords in Australia

1. password
2. 123456
3. 1234
4. samanthas
5. qwerty
6. 12345
7. rodneyb1
8. work
9. 123456789
10. 12345678

Common passwords in Denmark

1. 123456789
2. 123456
3. 12345
4. 1234
5. password
6. 123123
7. 12345678
8. lol123
9. mikkel
10. hej123

Common passwords in Germany

1. 123456
2. password
3. 123456789
4. 12345
5. hallo
6. password
7. 12345678
8. master
9. 1234
10. qwertz

Common passwords in India

1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. bigbasket
5. 123456789
6. pass@123
7. 1234567890
8. anmol123
9. abcd1234
10. googledummy

Common passwords in Portugal

1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. 12345678
5. benfica
6. Portugal
7. sporting
8. 1234567890
9. password
10. 1234567

Common passwords in United Kingdom

1. password
2. 123456
3. guest
4. liverpool
5. qwerty
6. arsenal
7. 123456789
8. password1
9. 12345
10. 12345678

Common passwords in Norway

1. 123456
2. bbbbbb
3. password
4. password
5. 123456789
6. 12345
7. lol123
8. Groupd2013
9. Tester01
10. 12345678

Common passwords in Japan

1. 123456
2. password
3. 1234
4. 12345678
5. akubisa2020
6. xxxxxx
7. sakura
8. 303030
9. 12345
10. 123456789

To check out the list of most common passwords in other countries, check out this NordPass list of most common passwords.

How hackers use common passwords

The internet is filled with lists of common passwords. You can find a list of common passwords used in different countries, common passwords for different years, and whatnot. If you find them, what makes you think that a hacker cannot use them against you?

Every year, cybersecurity analysts publish a list of the most common passwords, how many times they have been used, and the amount of time it takes a hacker to crack them. Since the end users are not learning to use complex passwords, hackers try their luck by performing “Password spraying” attacks where they flood the password field with many password combinations until they get the right one.

This is how the hackers use the published list of common passwords against the public and is also how the social media accounts of celebrities (as well as regular people) get hacked.

How long it takes to crack a password

With the transformation of cybersecurity technologies, it is becoming easier for hackers to crack even the most complex passwords, even if they are encrypted. This is why people prefer using two-factor authentication (2FA).

According to a study conducted by SpecOps, even certain MD5-encrypted passwords can be cracked easily. MD5 is an encryption standard that produces a 128-bit hash value. Here is a table by SpecOps that illustrates the complexity of an MD5-encrypted password and the time it takes for a hacker to crack it:

How to check if password is secure?

Previously, there was no way of telling whether the password you are using is even unique, and whether or not it is considered a strong password or not. However, now, there are certain tools available that can be used to check your password’s strength. These tools include:

• Security.org
• Hashword password strength checker
• Password monster password strength checker

Note that these are secure websites and do not save your password once you enter them into the fields. Moreover, some of these even inform how long it would take an attacker to breach the password.

How to make your password secure

Generating a secure password needs a lot of creativity, but simultaneously, a strong memory too. if you create a complex password with special characters, lower and uppercase alphabets, and numbers, with great length, it would be difficult to remember it. This is why you can take advantage of other means, such as secure password generators and password managers.

Here are a few tools that you can use to generate a secure password:

• Hashword password generator
• LastPass password generator
• Avast random password generator

While using these tools, you can configure the complexity of the password you want to generate. This includes the type of characters, the password’s length, etc.

Additionally, you can use the following tips to ensure that you always create a secure password:

• Do not use sequences and common patterns (like 123 and abcd).
• Do not use yours or anyone you know birthday.
• Never use any personal information.
• Create passwords with at least 8 characters.
• Use unrelated words and numbers.
• Never use words and phrases found in the dictionary.
• Never reuse your password on different sites.
• Never write/save your passwords, digitally or otherwise.
• Use a password manager.
• Never share your passwords with anyone.

Ending words

While it may not seem important to the average user, but having a secure password that is not common is very important in this digital era of technology. Password cracking is becoming easier with advancing technologies, and automated processes by hackers can crack a password in a matter of milliseconds.

Therefore, use this guide to ensure that all your passwords are difficult to crack, and use the best practices while creating them.