The most common password in 43 countries is ‘123456’. Research found Australia is just as slack as other nations, and owners and upper level managers are among the worst offenders. Most of the ‘common’ ones are not original, and leave you open to a data breach. If you’re in the list below, prepare to be hacked.
The Federal Court recently fined RI Advice (financial planners) $750,000, for failing to respond to repeated hacks and allowing the loss of sensitive personal information. It is unlikely that the fine and the repeated losses would be covered by insurance.
Australia’s most used passwords:
123456
password
password1 1
23456789
admin
abc123
qwerty
holden
charlie
qwerty1
111111
dragon
Tips for safe passwords:
Deploy a password manager, which allows you to store all your passwords in encrypted digital storage locked with a single keyword, for the most convenience.
Conduct cyber-security training, because human mistakes are the leading cause of data breaches.
Enable multi-factor authentication. Two or more steps to validate used identify, such as separate apps, security keys, or even biometric data.
Research threats and protection measures https://www.cyber.gov.au/
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