The 500 Worst Passwords Consumers Use

Prior posts have emphasized the importance for consumers to use robust passwords. Unfortunately, for their online accounts many consumers still use passwords that are easy for identity thieves to guess. Boing Boing lists the 500 worst passwords. Here are the top 25 worst passwords:

1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. 12345
5. pussy
6. 1234
7. dragon
8. qwerty
9. 696969
10. mustang
11. letmein
12. baseball
13. master
14. michael
15. football
16. shadow
17. monkey
18. abc123
19. pass
20. fuckme
21. 6969
22. jordan
23. harley
24. ranger
25. iwantu

I used to work at Harvard Business School, and during the five years I worked there a coworker never changed his password. For another five years after I had left HBS, this coworker still had not changed his password. A word to the wise: change your password periodically -- like every 3 months.

Identity thieves are smart and persistent. So, if your sign-in credentials include any of the above passwords, you can basically say bye-bye to your identity, sensitive personal data, and the money in your bank accounts. Consumers should use strong passwords. Here is one example of what happens consumers don't use strong passwords and identity thieves take over your e-mail account.