A company that manages passwords has compiled a list it calls the worst passwords of 2014.
According to SplashData, the passwords evaluated for the 2014 list were mostly generated in North America and Western Europe.
The company says many people put themselves at risk by using weak, easily guessable passwords.
Here are the worst passwords of 2014:
1 123456 (Unchanged from 2013)
2 password (Unchanged)
3 12345 (Up 17)
4 12345678 (Down 1)
5 qwerty (Down 1)
6 1234567890 (Unchanged)
7 1234 (Up 9)
8 baseball (New)
9 dragon (New)
10 football (New)
11 1234567 (Down 4)
12 monkey (Up 5)
13 letmein (Up 1)
14 abc123 (Down 9)
15 111111 (Down 8)
16 mustang (New)
17 access (New)
18 shadow (Unchanged)
19 master (New)
20 michael (New)
21 superman (New)
22 696969 (New)
23 123123 (Down 12)
24 batman (New)
25 trustno1 (Down 1)
SplashData offers three tips to be safer from hackers online:
1. Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters.
2. Avoid using the same username/password combination for multiple websites.
3. Use a password manager such as to organize and protect passwords, generate random passwords, and automatically log into websites.
Don’t use a favorite sport as your password – “baseball” and “football” are in top 10, and “hockey,” “soccer” and “golfer” are in the top 100. Don’t use a favorite team either, as “yankees,” “eagles,” “steelers,” “rangers,” and “lakers” are all in the top 100.
Don’t use your birthday or especially just your birth year — 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992 are all in the top 100.
While baby name books are popular for naming children, don’t use them as sources for picking passwords. Common names such as “michael,” “jennifer,” “thomas,” “jordan,” “hunter,” “michelle,” “charlie,” “andrew,” and “daniel” are all in the top 50.
