Starwars enters at #16 in top 25 worst passwords of the year

SplashData has compiled its annual ranking of the worst passwords of the year, and reports that the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi appears to have inspired a new entry into the top 25: starwars …

“Unfortunately, while the newest episode may be a fantastic addition to the Star Wars franchise, ‘starwars’ is a dangerous password to use,” said Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData, Inc. “Hackers are using common terms from pop culture and sports to break into accounts online because they know many people are using those easy-to-remember words.”

123456 remains the most popular rubbish password, just ahead of … password. In third place, security is boosted by 16% as people opt for 1234567, and some even go for the ultra-secure version: 12345678.

Starwars isn’t the only new entry this year.

For the romantics out there, the self-focused “loveme” has been replaced on this year’s list with “iloveyou.” Other new appearances on the list include “letmein”, “monkey”, “hello”, “freedom”, “whatever” and “trustno1.” One other new entry is “qazwsx” from the two left columns on standard keyboards – demonstrating the importance of avoiding simple patterns.

You can see the full top 25 ranking below. The company estimates that 10% of the population uses one or more of them.

Our advice is always to use a strong, unique password for each website and service you use, using Keychain or a third-party password manager to remember them for you.

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