The majority of passwords can be cracked in less than a second 

NordPass password manager released data that reveals that nearly 70 per cent of the most popular passwords people use can be hacked in less than a second. Below are the top 10 passwords from last year,

along with the time it takes to hack into each and the number of times each has been exposed to data breaches.

When asked how hackers crack these passwords, NordPass expert explains, “While hackers use many effective techniques, the most common is the so-called ‘brute-force’ attack. It’s an automated, common, and effective method to hack people’s passwords.” 

Brute-Force Attack

Hackers check if a password belongs in the most popular category. Next, they will check on all known information that a person may use for his or her password like address, favourite band, sports team name or even a pet’s name. They also use a program that can tweak this information by adding special symbols or numbers. The hackers can also use Leetspeak, which translates words like ‘password’ to ‘p422W0Rd’. Lastly, hackers also check into other accounts a person has that have been possibly breached before and containing similar passwords.

To avoid being victims of hackers, here are some security solutions to protect one’s account shared by a security expert:

1. Consider a password generator. “Password generators are great tools that can generate complex passwords in seconds. Sadly, they are still massively underused. Recent research by Kaspersky suggests that a whopping 83 per cent of respondents make up their passwords instead of using some sort of tool that will do it for them,” says Chad Hammond.

2. Check the accounts you have and delete those that you no longer use. You can use haveibeenpawned.com to check if your email has ever been breached.

3. Use 2FA if you can. 2FA is an extra layer of protection for your accounts and having this will keep your data protected. 

4. Regularly check each of your accounts for suspicious activities. Change your password if you see any suspicious activities in any of your accounts.

Do you have a favourite password generator that you use regularly? Please share with our readers by commenting below.