Constructing passwords is a delicate art, not meant for the imaginatively-challenged.
You want to choose a virtual key that can’t be linked directly back to you, while picking a series of numbers or letters that equally, you won’t forget the second you log out of your online banking.
A security expert at Lancaster University has some foolproof (and hacker-proof) guidelines for you to come up with the perfect password, the likes of which not even Enigma could crack. Probably.
Inevitably, if your password includes your pet’s name, your birthday or a group of consecutive numbers between one and 10, you may as well write ‘Hello Hackers, I’m ready toget fucked’ on all your online accounts.
Dr. Jeff Yan has examined an obsolete Yahoo database to find the most commonly used passwords and he’s come up with a top 10 blooper list:
1. 123456
2. password
3. welcome
4. ninja
5. abc123
6. 123456789
7. 12345678
8. sunshine
9. princess
10. qwerty
The study found that 73 per cent of these obsolete accounts were easily hacked by the researchers.
Ironically, clever dicks who use ‘password’ and ‘welcome’ as the virtual keys to important accounts are the most at risk of hacking. In other words, if you’re using any of these passwords you’re basically laying down the welcome matt and leaving a basket of mini muffins on the virtual dining table of your life for prospective hackers to dine out on.
When asked why people use such obvious passwords, Dr Jeff said:
I think they’re either unaware of or don’t understand the risks of online security. Just like everybody knows what one should do when red lights are on in the road, eventually everybody will know 123456 or the like is not a good password choice.
Up your password game, people, because password won’t cut it anymore in this scary, mixed-up virtual world where nothing is sacrosanct and safe.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.