Some CPAs consider themselves clever for coming up with easy-to-remember passwords, but hackers are often wise to this tactic. Each year, SplashData (the developer of SplashID) compiles a list of millions of stolen passwords and sorts them in order of popularity. For 2017, the top 10 most commonly used stolen passwords were as follows:
- 12346
- password
- 12345678
- qwerty
- 12345
- 123456789
- letmein
- 1234567
- football
- iloveyou
You can view a complete list of SplashData's 100 most commonly used stolen passwords at s13639.pcdn.co. For advice on how to generate passwords, refer to my April/May 2015 JofA Technology Q&A item "Unforgettable Passwords."
About the author
J. Carlton Collins, CPA, (carlton@asaresearch.com) is a technology consultant, a conference presenter, and a JofA contributing editor.
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