London, January 2014 – In light of new research* revealing the most frequently hacked computer passwords of the past year, Equifax, the leading ID fraud and credit information expert, is urging consumers to add variety to their choice of passwords or risk falling victim to fraudsters. The report also highlights the importance of consumers using a range of passwords for different websites.
The research, conducted by SplashData, identifies the six-digit phrase ‘123456’ as the most hacked password of 2013, beating the previous year’s winner ‘password’ into second place. Other popular choices included ‘abc123’, ‘iloveyou’ and ‘111111’, whilst new to the list was easily guessed ‘000000’.
“Whilst it’s understandable that consumers find it difficult to remember a multitude of passwords, it’s absolutely crucial that they don’t revert to just one for all the services they access on the web” explained Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director, Equifax.
“Despite a growing number of websites now enforcing stronger password policies, we are still seeing so many people fall victim to ID fraud with easily cracked, numerical passwords, or basic things such as birthdays and mother’s maiden names.
“Fraudsters may only need as little as three items of personal information to be able to steal an individual’s identity and with so much information about people circulating on the internet – especially through social media sites – it wouldn’t take much for a fraudster to work out a birthday or family name that could be the key to a treasure trove of information.”
“We believe vigilance has to be the priority for today’s consumers as personal information becomes the currency of the internet”, continued Neil Munroe.
“The invisibility of the worldwide web makes it the ideal place for fraudsters to find and trade people’s information so it’s vital that consumers stay alert to the risk and think about using secure passwords.”
Kaynak : 