A new study by cybersecurity company Kaspersky sounds the alarm on weak passwords.
Researchers analyzed nearly 200 million passwords and found an alarming result: nearly half (45%, or 87 million passwords) could be cracked by hackers in under a minute. What’s worse is that only 23% (around 44 million) were strong enough to take more than a year to crack.
To improve your online security, Kaspersky recommends using a unique password for every service you use. This way, even if one account is compromised, others remain safe.
Kaspersky recommends against using passwords that:
Can be easily guessed from your personal information, such as birthdays, names of family members, pets, or your own name. These are often the first guesses an attacker will try. It is nearly impossible to memorize long and unique passwords for all the services you use, but with a special solution, one can memorize just one master password.
In 2023, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky identified over 32 million attempts to steal passwords. This highlights the critical need for good online habits (“digital hygiene”) and keeping passwords up-to-date.
Kaspersky also analyzed a large group of passwords and found a worrying trend: most were weak and easily cracked by hackers using clever guessing techniques. The study revealed a troubling fact: more than half (57%) of the passwords contained dictionary words, making them much simpler to break.
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