Most dangerous passwords of 2011

Don't Waste Your Money

Identity theft for an entire company?


Photographer: WCPO
Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Advertisement

Posted: 11/17/2011

Are you guilty of using an easy-to-remember password, that may be easy for crooks as well?

The computer security firm Splash Data has just released its list of the worst passwords for 2011 , those that make your computer, smartphone, or especially bank account highly vulnerable to hackers.

Choose one of these for a sensitive account, and you are inviting thieves in, according to the report.

Among the most dangerous passwords:

-Password  (Yup, people use "password" as their password)

-123456 (Another obvious one, the first one many thieves try)

-123456768 (I guess that's a little more secure than the one above)

-QWERTY  (You must have been an Einstein in keyboarding class to come up with this one)

-abc123 (A tiny bit better)

-Monkey (OK, at least this one is a little more creative, but it is still a fail)

-letmein  (Hackers will try this one really early on)

Security experts say the ideal password has at least eight characters and includes numbers and letters. So get creative.

And don't waste your money.

_____________________________

Don't Waste Your Money is a registered trademark of the EW Scripps Co.

"Like" John Matarese on Facebook

Follow John on Twitter

Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

  • Comments
Advertisement

Meet John Matarese


  1. John Matarese

    John Matarese

    A veteran reporter and two-time Emmy Award winner, John is our Don't Waste Your Money consumer reporter.

    • Send John an email, so you Don't Waste Your Money!

    You Win Wednesday


    • Stay Connected