Don’t Get Tricked With These Terrible Passwords

What do "ninja," "monkey" and "dragon" all have in common? No, they’re not popular Halloween costumes. According to SplashData, an online security company, they are all "scary passwords" that are especially prone to hacking. The company has just released its list of the top 25 most-hacked passwords.

"At this time of year, people enjoy focusing on scary costumes, movies and decorations, but those who have been through it can tell you how terrifying it is to have your identity stolen because of a hacked password," says Morgan Slain, SplashData CEO. "We're hoping that with more publicity about how risky it is to use weak passwords, more people will start taking simple steps to protect themselves by using stronger passwords and using different passwords for different websites."

So be forewarned, and consider changing your password if it’s on this list:

Most Hacked Passwords

1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. abc123
5. qwerty
6. monkey
7. letmein
8. dragon
9. 111111
10. baseball
11. Iloveyou
12. trustno1
13. 1234567
14. sunshine
15. master
16. 123123
17. welcome
18. shadow
19. ashley
20. football
21. jesus
22. michael
23. ninja
24. mustang
25. password1

SplashData offers some tips for strengthening passwords. For example, avoid using the same username/password combination for multiple websites. Your passwords should be eight characters or more with mixed types of characters. Consider using short words with spaces or other characters separating them, such as "eat cake at 8!" or "car_far_war?"

"It just takes a few extra moments to make a password better," Slain says. "If you get started now and make it a resolution to keep it up, your life online will be safer and more secure in 2013."