Passwords are crucial in the current digital era.

The keywords used serve as one of the primary security measures for social media accounts, emails, online banking, and other digital needs.

Ironically, many of us often neglect to create strong passwords to protect our personal accounts from hacking. Instead, we tend to use the same predictable passwords. NordPass, a password management tool from the NordVPN team, has released a study on the 200 most common passwords used throughout 2023.

Among the top 20 most common passwords globally, there are 17 passwords that can be cracked in less than a second, such as "123456" or "password." Here is the list of the 20 most frequently used passwords worldwide in 2023:

1. 123456, used 4,524,867 times
2. admin, used 4,008,850 times
3. 12345678, used 1,371,152 times
4. 123456789, used 1,213,047 times
5. 1234, used 969,811 times
6. 12345, used 728,414 times
7. password, used 710,321 times
8. 123, used 528,086 times
9. Aa123456, used 319,725 times
10. 1234567890, used 302,709 times
11. UNKNOWN, used 240,377 times
12. 1234567, used 234,187 times
13. 123123, used 224,261 times
14. 111111, used 191,392 times
15. Password, used 177,725 times
16. 12345678910, used 172,502 times
17. 000000, used 168,653 times
18. admin123, used 159,354 times
19. ********, used 152,497 times
20. user, used 146,233 times

The keyword "Admin," which did not make it to the top 200 in the last five years, is in the second position this year.

"That is one password that people don't want to bother changing," the report says.

"Instead of improving password creation habits, internet users are taking a different direction by sticking to previously configured passwords."

Meanwhile, "123456" remains the most common password in the world for the past five years.

Password usage habits

This study also reveals the most common passwords based on categories.

The password "123456" is most frequently used for e-commerce sites, email accounts, electronic devices, and streaming services.

Meanwhile, "UNKNOWN" takes the first position for social media platforms, financial accounts, and mobile phones.

Additionally, many users use names as passwords, which is quite popular worldwide.

"Isabella" is the second most used password in Austria this year, while "Katerina" ranks 11th in Greece. Combinations of names and numbers, such as "Flores123," rank 5th in Mexico, and "Kento123!" is No. 17 in Malaysia.

Residents of the United Kingdom often use passwords with the names of their favorite football clubs, such as "Liverpool," "Arsenal," and "Chelsea," indicating their passion for the sport.

Chinese netizens often use numbers in their passwords, although '123456' is also the most widely used, along with '111111,' '000000,' and '12345678,' which are very popular.

On the other hand, netizens in the United States prefer to use vulgar words, with "shitbird" ranking 16th.