The Most Common Passwords Of 2022 Were Revealed & You're Not As Clever As You Think

Picking a new password for your stuff can be annoying, but while it's tempting to go with something simple, a new study suggests that hackers can crack the easy options in less than a second.

Sure, you might be tempted to go with something like "12356," but the folks at NordPass say you'd be better off taking a suggested password or a more randomized set of numbers, letters and symbols.

NordPass compiled a list of the top 200 most common passwords around the world and in 30 different countries, using data from independent researchers who specialize in this kind of thing.

According to their results, the absolute worst password you can use is "password," according to their 2022 report. Not only was it the most common password, but it was actually three times more common than the second-easiest password, "123456."

Most of the frequently-used passwords on the list could be cracked in under 1 second, although "guest" took the researchers 10 seconds.

Still, that's not great.

Most of the passwords on the list were sequential or repeated numbers, easy-to-type stuff like "qwerty," or simple phrases, such as "starwars" and "f**kyou."

However, there were a few gems in the mix that took a minute or two to crack and a handful of others that took even longer.

For example, No. 21 on the list was "D1lakiss," and while it's fairly common, NordPass says it would take hackers three hours to figure it out.

"Groupd2013" and "Liman1000" were also three-hour hacks.

However, the toughest password on the list was "9136668099." According to NordPass, it would take four days for someone to crack it.

NordPass also broke the list down by country, and there were a few cute regional differences.

In Canada, for instance, "hockey" ranked No. 12, while "baseball" held that same spot in the United States. Italy had words like "ciao" and "juventus," a soccer reference, in the top 10, while the U.K. also showed its soccer football-loving mindset with "liverpool" and "arsenal" high on its list.

Here are the world's top 10 passwords:

1. password
2. 123456
3. 123456789
4. guest
5. qwerty
6. 12345678
7. 111111
8. 12345
9. col123456
10. 123123

If yours is on that list, you might want to change it!

Just pretend you're guessing the name of Elon Musk's next kid, and you'll be on the right track.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.