If you remember the classic Mel Brooks satirical take on sci-fi, Space Balls; you may remember the scene where the King of Druidia was forced to reveal the combination of the planet’s atmospheric-exterior gate. ‘The combination is: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8’. And the response from Brooks: “That’s the same combination that’s on my luggage.”

The Most Hacked Password is Revealed

Whether or not you saw the movie, you’d probably agree choosing something so obvious is a good way to get your password hacked. In a recent report from ShockWave, a similar situation that is as equally shocking as it is apparent, indicated the top hacked password for online accounts is: Password1. That seems rather odd, doesn’t it? I mean, of course, it seems strange that anyone who knows how to operate an account would secure it with a password like Password1; considering the majority of online accounts require at least one digit and some require both a capital letter and a digit. The reason that those protocols are in place is to help keep people from getting their password hacked.

The news comes from the ethical password hacker team at SpiderLabs, a security service responsible for researching and exposing flaws in internet protection. Everyone is advised to change their password, if it is Password1. SpiderLabs is headed by Nicholas J. Percoco, who is one of the founders of the THOTCON hacking conference, and an avid public advocate of demonstrating online security risks. In each of the last two years, Percoco has exposed cracks in the firewalls of both iPhone and Google Android. This latest report about the flaws in online business security really puts one thing into clear perspective: if your password is Password1, it is advisable that you alter it to something that is more difficult to hack. The report issued also showed that 5% of businesses use some type of variation of the word ‘password’ for their online accounts.

How Can You Keep From Getting Your Password Hacked?

There isn’t any method for creating an impenetrable encoding system. This fact is demonstrated routinely by both ethical and unethical hackers. Some actions that you could take to protect your account are:

1. Use Complex Passwords

The top hacked passwords are those that are easy to guess and that appear obvious. Avoiding simple combinations can make a big difference in your security online. Adding a character such as & or % to your password, with letters and numbers, can dramatically reduce the password from being discovered by devious users.

2. Change Your Password Regularly

If you are online often, it isn’t a bad idea to change your password monthly; even weekly or daily, if needed. Many passwords are decoded by software programs that simply try different combinations until one works. It would increase your protection if your password was constantly changing.

3. Buy Security Software

There are multiple services and programs available that will routinely change your passwords automatically. This can be beneficial if you have sensitive information that requires the utmost protection.

4. Incorporate Security Questions

Many accounts will require you to have a security question, or two in order to add more security to your account. Others don’t require you to have those precautions, but will give you the option to incorporate them; if you choose to.

5. Change Accounts

If the account that you are using doesn’t have any additional security options, you may want to switch to one that does. There aren’t many systems that don’t give you additional security options and optimal security cannot occur if the choice isn’t available.

The Passwords are Hacked for Safety

It would be a frightening world if we didn’t have people watching over us making sure that we were safe. I’ve already changed all my passwords and I’ll have my eyes open for any new reports about the many threats to ecommerce. I seriously hope that the next report issued doesn’t inform us that the second most hacked password is 1Password; because that’s what I just changed all my passwords to.