While experts have warned about the importance of a strong password multiple times, some people still do not focus on protecting their digital identity online. Many still continue to keep bizarre passwords even right now.
A recent report by NordPass revealed India’s most common passwords and showed how long it takes for hackers to crack them. A simple combination of alphabets or numbers is the type of password that experts warn against.
Among the top 200 most common passwords in India, the one that topped the list was the word “password” itself. Others include “googledummy” which stands at the tenth position. This password requires 23 minutes to guess, reported The Indian Express.
The second-most common password in the country is “123456” standing at number 2. It takes less than a second to crack the password.
“Compared to the data from 2021, 73% of the 200 most common passwords in 2022 remain the same. Furthermore, 83% of the passwords in this year’s list can be cracked in less than a second,” the report read.
Understandably, India stands fourth on the list of countries suffering from consumer loss, according to a 2017 report by Statista. Despite an increase in cybercrime awareness in the past few years, people do not seem to be putting in adequate effort and energy into setting strong passwords.
Other ridiculous passwords on the list that can be guessed in less than a second were “guest”, “iloveyou”, “qwerty”, and “111111”. Reportedly, these passwords are globally common.
It is very important to set strong passwords because easy-to-guess ones can put internet users at a huge risk. Hackers do not simply “guess” passwords, but crack them by using tools and smart software.
These software and algorithms use a list of words and numbers to crack into accounts. They allow entering repeated combinations until the right one appears.
Nvidia’s latest GPU, the RTX 4090, for example, can crack strong passwords in a few days, according to a report by Tom’s Hardware. If this is the case for good passwords, one can guess how easy it is to attack accounts with simple passwords.
It is significant to add letters, numbers, and other symbols and characters to the password. A combination of uppercase and lowercase alphabets can also strengthen the password. However, it is crucial that this combination is random.
For example, “pass@123” is the 34th most common password in the entire world and the 6th most common in India. Another is “p@ssw0rd” which is the 17th most common in India.
