We all know, choosing strong passwords is important. However, a person’s native language influences the choice of password. The language also affects the security of passwords. In each language, a number are often popular choices. These have a higher chance of being hacked. So, what about Spanish passwords?
There appears to be a trend in the use of a formula when choosing this security word to log in to a computer service. This is according to an analysis on the blog of digital platform Preply.
What are the most hacked passwords in Spanish-speaking countries? On the basis of this analysis, Preply compiled a list of the most hacked in the world, as well as in Spanish-speaking countries. Despite the fact that many passwords contain numbers, there are language-related trends in the passwords that use letters or words.
Numbers and letters
In the following Spanish-speaking countries – Spain, Mexico, Chile and Colombia – numeric passwords are very popular. “123456” and “123456789” are the most frequently used and hacked. In third place is a word, which is hacker-prone, because it is often a default password. This is “admin” (hacked 276,638 times). Using a simple ‘0’ also doesn’t seem effective (274,678 hacks).
Other most commonly used passwords in Spanish-speaking countries include the word “Benjamin” (252,880 occurrences) and two proper nouns: “Antonio” and “Santiago”. Also, “Barcelona” (hacked 244,768 times, and “user” (hacked 195,768 times) are not safe choices.
These are the most hacked passwords in the world
The numerical string “123456” – often 6 is the minimum number of characters – occurs 4.5 million times and has caused a data breach no less than 37,615,252 times. This is followed by “123456789”, with 16.7 million hacks.
The top three continue with numeric passwords. It doesn’t really matter if you go for just one number – “111111” has 4.9 million incidents – or if you vary the sequence a bit – 123123′ has 3.6 million breaches.
Looking at passwords that consist only of letters or words, then the most insecure one is “qwerty”. These are the first letters that appear in the first row of a large number of keyboards. The number of incidents involving this password is 10.6 million. “Iloveyou” may be romantic, but it’s not safe, judging by the 2.3 million incidents.
How do you choose the right password?
The first thing to remember is that 97% of most hacked passwords have less than 12 characters. In addition, Preply states, it is advisable to use alphanumeric codes, thus combining letters and numbers. But that’s not all. It is recommended to add symbols to this alphanumeric code, but also some capital letters. That makes it even more difficult for the software used by cyber hackers. There are numerous sites on the internet that allow you to generate a random password based on these parameters. Preply recommends making a variation of the password obtained, for more security.
It’s also a good idea to consider using a professional password manager, which is a type of digital keychain, or vault. Many smartphones and computers have this feature built into the system.
Also read: Hackers attack Seville Town Hall
