'Jesus' and 'ninja' won’t protect you from hackers

SCI-TECH

Why 'Jesus' and 'ninja' won鈥檛 protect you from hackers

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Wednesday, October 24, 2012 9:58PM EDT

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Despite constant warnings about cyber security and the importance of hard-to-guess passwords, Internet users still seem to think that 鈥�123456鈥� and 鈥減assword鈥� will keep hackers away, according to SplashData鈥檚 annual 鈥渨orst passwords鈥� list.

The password software provider has compiled a list of 25 most commonly used bad passwords that offer little or no protection for your email, social media or online banking accounts.

According to SplashData, 鈥減assword鈥� and character sequences such as 鈥�123456鈥� or 鈥渁bc123鈥� are still the most popular passwords. 鈥淢onkey,鈥� 鈥渓etmein,鈥� and common names like 鈥淢ichael鈥� and 鈥淎shley鈥� also made the list of 25 worst passwords.

New entries on the list this year include 鈥淛esus,鈥� 鈥渘inja,鈥� and 鈥渕ustang.鈥�

SplashData compiled the list by looking at millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers.

In a news release, company CEO Morgan Slain said anyone using any of the passwords on the list should change them immediately.

"Hackers can easily break into many accounts just by repeatedly trying common passwords,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven though people are encouraged to select secure, strong passwords, many people continue to choose weak, easy-to-guess ones, placing themselves at risk from fraud and identity theft.鈥�

SplashData offers some tips, such as creating longer passwords with a variety of characters and using different passwords for each online service you use.

Here are SplashData鈥檚 25 worst passwords of 2012:

1. password (Unchanged)

2, 123456 (Unchanged)

3. 12345678 (Unchanged)

4. abc123 (Up 1)

5. qwerty (Down 1)

6. monkey (Unchanged)

7. letmein (Up 1)

8. dragon (Up 2)

9. 111111 (Up 3)

10. baseball (Up 1)

11. iloveyou (Up 2)