Just how unique is your password?

The average UK adult has 32 different online accounts, the majority of which require a password as the main method of access. But a report from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) suggests many are still too easy to crack.

It is widely known that passwords containing characters that don’t form words, and include numbers and special symbols are generally more difficult for others to guess or decode. However, it would appear too many of us still don’t heed the warnings.

The usual suspects…
The report from NCSC, part of the GCHQ intelligence agency, notes that ‘password’, though often parodied as all-too-obvious, has allowed fraudsters gain access to 3.6million accounts worldwide. Similarly, ‘qwerty’ gave access to 3.8 million accounts.

Far outnumbering them both, however, with some 23.2 million accounts using it as their password, was ‘123456’.

It was also noted that under half of those surveyed by the NCSC do not use a strong, separate password for their email account.

When one thinks of fraudulent activity and account hacking on the web, it’s tempting to think of shady individuals in darkened rooms working on computer code for hours on end. The reality that NCSC’s report highlights is that for a large proportion of online accounts, accessing them is no harder than trying a very few, rather obvious options.

Users are aware of the threat, but do they care?
The findings seem at odds with the perceived threat of malicious online activity by British internet users. According to the report, 42% expect to be the victims of internet fraud by 2021, with 89% using the internet to make purchases.

It appears that while conscious of the threat posed by poor online security, many would rather choose to use passwords that, while making users more likely to be the victims of fraudsters, are easily memorable.

Other notably common passwords include: