"password".
>The Most Common Password Is...
..."password."
That's right, the word most commonly chosen as a password-- which means you should never use it yourself as it is too easy to guess by people intent on violating your e-mail --is "password."
Britain's The Register reports this based on an admittedly unscientific, but extremely revealing, survey conducted by the folks who organized the InfoSecurity Europe conference. They walked up to random office workers at London's Waterloo Station and asked them for their password in exchange for a cheap pen. Fully 90 percent revealed their password. (Last year 65 percent fell for the bait.) And 12 percent of them said the password is "password."
Weird password facts:
The most popular category for a password was the person's own name, followed by their favorite sports team and date of birth. (Hint: If you see yourself here, immediately change your password!)
Men were slightly more likely to reveal their password than women. Fully 95 percent of men handed over the password when asked, compared with 85 percent of women.
Naughty, naughty:
75 percent said they knew their co-workers' passwords.
66 percent admitted they had given their password to a colleague.
66 percent said they use a single password for everything -- from the company computer to personal banking. (That makes them more vulnerable to financial fraud, personal data loss, or identity theft.)
Tips to protect your password:
Keep your passwords secret. Don't give them away in exchange for a cheap pen or anything else. And if you do reveal your password, change it!
Use a different password for everything.
Change your passwords every few months, perhaps at the start of each new season.
When choosing a password, do not choose a word that is in the dictionary or a string of numbers. Never use your name, your spouse's name, your children's names, your home address, or your birthday. These are too easy for hackers to guess.
When creating a password, mix and match letters and numbers. Example: KRT358A
If your password suddenly doesn't work, be suspicious! Someone may have gained access to your account.
When you log on in public, be sure no one is watching you type in your password.
And the most important password protection tip of all:
Never give your password to anyone who asks for it in an e-mail or Instant Message -- no matter how convincing or official the request may be.<
