The worst passwords of 2017

Guessing the worst computer password of 2017 is as easy as 123456.

Roughly 150,000 unimaginative Americans made the simple six-digit password their key to unlocking their computer or cell phone — which would make it real easy for hackers to guess.

Also making the Top 10 dumbest passwords this year are “Password,” “12345678,” “qwerty” and — perhaps the favorite of those with limited recall — “12345,” according to a California tech company.

Those with just a little imagination picked a password from pop culture, the company revealed.

As “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” takes cinemas by storm, “starwars” became No. 16 on the company’s Top 100 worst passwords of 2017.

“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, which compiled the list from the millions of passwords stolen in huge cyberattacks and then released publicly.

“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,” Slain said.

Other notable bad passwords include “letmein” (No. 7), “login” (No. 14) and “trustno1” (No. 25).

On the raunchier side of things, “a–hole” made the list at No. 34, and “f–kyou” was at No. 52.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) notes that we tend to come up with characters that are easily guessed because humans have only a limited ability to memorize complicated strings of characters.

In response, online services often force users to adopt increasingly complex and hard-to-remember passwords. This, however, has not greatly reduced hacking numbers.

In other words, previous guidelines have resulted in passwords that are harder for humans to remember while making them no more difficult for computers to guess.

In May, NIST released new guidelines calling for the elimination of special character requirements, and urged online services to allow for longer passwords that can include spaces. Strings of random words are easier for humans to remember, and harder for computers to guess.

So, if you decide to stick with “starwars” as your password, may the force be with you.

source: New York Post

These phrases are from the text. Can you fill in the missing words?

1. strings of …… words

2. a …… ability to memorize

3. simple six-digit ……

4. takes cinemas by …..

5. are …… guessed

Key

1. random

2. limited

3. password

4. storm

5. easily