The most used password in Canada in 2023 was 123456, with 4.5 million uses of it, according to a study conducted by cybersecurity company NordPass. “NordPass’ research is yet another example of how passwords are long past their expiration date — users continue to depend on incredibly weak passwords,” said Fido Alliance Executive Director and Chief Marketing Officer Andrew Shikiar in a press release. “Credential managers, such as NordPass, are an effective way for users to improve their password hygiene and will also play a critical role in helping consumers and businesses manage the transition towards passkeys — a true password replacement featuring robust security and usability.” NordPass said 123456 takes less than one second for hackers to crack. It added the second most used password in Canada was admin (four million uses). Admin takes less than one second for hackers to crack. After admin was 12345678 (1.4 million). This was followed by 123456789 (1.2 million), 1234 (969,811) and 12345 (728,414). While passwords in every country vary, it said there are some clear global trends. It found people use the weakest passwords for their streaming accounts. In contrast, the strongest passwords are used for financial accounts. Internet users often go to a relevant brand’s or company’s name when creating a password. On smartphone apps, people use memorable passwords such as iPhone6s, Samsung1 and 1messenger. While 123456 is the most common password in Canada, NordPass said it has this title worldwide. In fact, it acknowledged 31% of the world’s most popular passwords consist of numerical sequences such as 123456789, 12345 and 000000. Internet users worldwide rely on simple dictionary words to secure their online accounts, and Canada is no exception. Passwords that include words such as Cutie121, keeptrying, and Boss1234 keep topping Canada’s list. Instead of improving password creation habits, internet users have gone in another direction by sticking to pre-configured ones. While invisible last year, admin made its grand entry to this year’s list and ensured itself second place in Canada and worldwide. As many as 70% of the passwords in this year’s list can be cracked in less than one second.NordPass revealed what kind of passwords people use for different platforms and whether they vary in strength.NordPass Chief Technology Officer Tomas Smalakys said streaming accounts have the easier passwords because they are associated with people managing shared accounts and using memorable ones for convenience. They pay more attention to accounts they associate with money.Throughout the five years of NordPass conducting this research, 123456 was the top password four times. Smalakys said this is a clear sign that change in authentication is essential.Passkeys are a new form of authentication. The essence of passkeys is the user does not need to come up with a password, as he or she is logged in once connecting it. When joining a website that supports passkeys, the user’s device generates a pair of related keys — public and private. The private key is saved on the device itself, and the public one is stored on the website’s server.Smalakys concluded by saying passkeys “will help eliminate lousy passwords, thus making users more secure.” However, he said they will not be adopted overnight. “Being amongst the first password managers to offer this technology, we can see that users are more and more curious to test it out,” he said. “However, there’s still a lot of work to be done and password security still remains a matter of today.” This ordeal comes after Netflix said in February it is rolling out its password sharing ban in Canada to ensure it stays profitable. READ MORE: SHARE POPCORN INSTEAD: Netflix Canada commences password sharing crackdown“Today, over 100 million households are sharing accounts — impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films,” said Netflix Director, Product Innovation Chengyi Long. “Our focus has been on giving members greater control over who can access their account.”The list of passwords was compiled in partnership with independent researchers specializing in research of cybersecurity incidents. They evaluated a 4.3TB database extracted from various public sources, including those on the dark web.
The most used password in Canada in 2023 was 123456, with 4.5 million uses of it, according to a study conducted by cybersecurity company NordPass. “NordPass’ research is yet another example of how passwords are long past their expiration date — users continue to depend on incredibly weak passwords,” said Fido Alliance Executive Director and Chief Marketing Officer Andrew Shikiar in a press release. “Credential managers, such as NordPass, are an effective way for users to improve their password hygiene and will also play a critical role in helping consumers and businesses manage the transition towards passkeys — a true password replacement featuring robust security and usability.” NordPass said 123456 takes less than one second for hackers to crack. It added the second most used password in Canada was admin (four million uses). Admin takes less than one second for hackers to crack. After admin was 12345678 (1.4 million). This was followed by 123456789 (1.2 million), 1234 (969,811) and 12345 (728,414). While passwords in every country vary, it said there are some clear global trends. It found people use the weakest passwords for their streaming accounts. In contrast, the strongest passwords are used for financial accounts. Internet users often go to a relevant brand’s or company’s name when creating a password. On smartphone apps, people use memorable passwords such as iPhone6s, Samsung1 and 1messenger. While 123456 is the most common password in Canada, NordPass said it has this title worldwide. In fact, it acknowledged 31% of the world’s most popular passwords consist of numerical sequences such as 123456789, 12345 and 000000. Internet users worldwide rely on simple dictionary words to secure their online accounts, and Canada is no exception. Passwords that include words such as Cutie121, keeptrying, and Boss1234 keep topping Canada’s list. Instead of improving password creation habits, internet users have gone in another direction by sticking to pre-configured ones. While invisible last year, admin made its grand entry to this year’s list and ensured itself second place in Canada and worldwide. As many as 70% of the passwords in this year’s list can be cracked in less than one second.NordPass revealed what kind of passwords people use for different platforms and whether they vary in strength.NordPass Chief Technology Officer Tomas Smalakys said streaming accounts have the easier passwords because they are associated with people managing shared accounts and using memorable ones for convenience. They pay more attention to accounts they associate with money.Throughout the five years of NordPass conducting this research, 123456 was the top password four times. Smalakys said this is a clear sign that change in authentication is essential.Passkeys are a new form of authentication. The essence of passkeys is the user does not need to come up with a password, as he or she is logged in once connecting it. When joining a website that supports passkeys, the user’s device generates a pair of related keys — public and private. The private key is saved on the device itself, and the public one is stored on the website’s server.Smalakys concluded by saying passkeys “will help eliminate lousy passwords, thus making users more secure.” However, he said they will not be adopted overnight. “Being amongst the first password managers to offer this technology, we can see that users are more and more curious to test it out,” he said. “However, there’s still a lot of work to be done and password security still remains a matter of today.” This ordeal comes after Netflix said in February it is rolling out its password sharing ban in Canada to ensure it stays profitable. READ MORE: SHARE POPCORN INSTEAD: Netflix Canada commences password sharing crackdown“Today, over 100 million households are sharing accounts — impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films,” said Netflix Director, Product Innovation Chengyi Long. “Our focus has been on giving members greater control over who can access their account.”The list of passwords was compiled in partnership with independent researchers specializing in research of cybersecurity incidents. They evaluated a 4.3TB database extracted from various public sources, including those on the dark web.
