The most used passwords of 2021: by the way, they are the least secure

Currently, many applications and platforms opt for two-step verification to strengthen the security of users at the time of entry.

This makes sense if you take into account that passwords are not always the safest way to avoid scams and data theft on the Internet.

A recent study showed which passwords were used the most in 2021. It was once again shown that number combinations, especially those easy to remember, were the most used by Internet users.

Thus, eight of the ten most popular passwords were made up of various number combinations, particularly "123456"; “123456789” and “12345”, which occupy the top three positions in the classification.

Other of the most used passwords worldwide were: "qwerty", "password", "12345678", "111111", "123123", "1234567" and "1234567890".

“This highlights how popular extremely weak passwords remain. In addition, if only the 20 most recurring passwords are taken as a reference, the time to decrypt them through brute force attacks is in most cases less than a second, "says the ESET company in a statement.

Due to this, the company specialized in web security recommends changing these passwords immediately.

Consider using a unique passphrase for each of your online accounts, which would make it more difficult or even impossible to crack. Also, avoid falling into other bad habits related to the creation and use of passwords, such as the reuse of passwords for different services ”, explains Cecilia Pastorino, IT Security specialist at the ESET Latin America Research Laboratory.