![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/59\/590x\/secondary\/Password-5093492.jpg?r=1701357314816\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
New research has uncovered some of the most common words, names, numbers, places, and sports teams used in online passwords, prompting calls for people to change passwords if they include easy to guess information.<\/p>\n
According to data released by mymxdata.com, the most used name in passwords is \u2018Michael\u2019, swiftly followed by \u2018Daniel\u2019, \u2018Ashley\u2019, \u2018Jessica\u2019, and \u2018Charlie\u2019 – so that might not be the whole password, but it appears in there somewhere. The data studied was from over 100 million publicly available passwords that had leaked online since 2019 due to global data breaches of online platforms, so these are passwords that hackers could have direct access to.<\/p>\n
\u2018Jordan\u2019, \u2018Michelle\u2019, and \u2018Thomas\u2019 were also names included in many passwords. Scarily, over six million leaked passwords contained \u2018123456\u2019 in them, while ‘Liverpool’ was the most commonly used sports team ahead of ‘Chelsea’, ‘Barcelona’, and ‘Arsenal’.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number of times \u2018123456\u2019 is used for security is a staggering 6.6 million times. Using a combination which is so obvious to hackers can put your personal information at high risk,\u201d a mymxdata.com spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
The three most common years used in passwords were \u20182013\u2019, \u20182010\u2019, and \u20181986\u2019, while \u2018Superman\u2019 and \u2018Batman\u2019 ranked top on a list of fictional characters used alongside \u2018Hello Kitty\u2019 and \u2018Spider-Man\u2019. For the more musically inclined, you might want to change your password if it includes \u2018blink-182\u2019, \u201850 Cent\u2019, or \u2018Eminem\u2019 – artists seemingly as popular in password choice as they are on Spotify.<\/p>\n
They just beat out the usage of \u2018Metallica\u2019, \u2018Justin Bieber\u2019, and \u2018Ronaldo\u2019. The publication of this data follows the recent unveiling of the UK\u2019s most common passwords, with \u2018123456\u2019 winning out ahead of \u2018password\u2019, \u2018qwerty\u2019, and \u2018liverpool\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAim for a password that is at least 12 characters long, as long passwords are generally more secure,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cIt is also recommended you use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters, such as ., !, @, #, $, %.<\/p>\n
\u201cAvoid using information that hackers can easily guess, mostly related to you. Names, birthdays, family members, pets or hobbies that can be easily traced is not advised.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, try to mix up letters, numbers, and symbols that does not follow predictable patterns, such as ‘12345’ or ‘qwerty’.”<\/p>\n
They added that hackers often use dictionaries and huge lists of common passwords in attempts to crack online accounts, so when you use words or phrases among the most common, the risk of your accounts being hacked is greater.<\/p>\n