70% of passwords can be cracked in less than a second, shows NordPass study

In 2023, "123456" was the most common password used by Indians; almost a third of the world's most popular passwords consist of numerical sequences

As many as 70 per cent of the passwords in this year’s global list can be cracked in less than a second, showed the fifth edition of the NordPass study.

The study stated that in 2023, "123456” was the most commonly used password among Indians. In India, last year's global winner, “password”, “Pass@123”, and other similar variations were among the most commonly used passwords this year, according to a report in The Times of India (TOI).

NordPass study showed the kind of passwords used by people on different platforms and whether they vary in strength. Almost a third (31 per cent) of the world’s most popular passwords consist of just numerical sequences, such as “123456789", “12345", and “000000".

The study further showed that internet users usually choose the name of a country or city as a password. In India, “India@123” was ranked high in the country’s list. Moreover, “Barcelona” is trending in Spain, and “Kalamata” in Greece.

People use the weakest passwords for their streaming accounts, the study showed. Tomas Smalakys, chief technology officer (CTO) at NordPass, said that the reason behind this could be associated with people managing shared accounts and using easy-to-remember passwords for ease. 

Smalakys said that the strongest passwords are used for all financial accounts.

According to the TOI report, the study said that internet users use already pre-configured passwords, such as the word “admin” which is one of the passwords that people do not bother changing. "Admin" was among this year’s most common passwords in India and many other countries.