Not “123456”, the most common password in this country is the name of something very special

Set a password that is too easy to guess

Most of us are too lazy to create complex passwords and keep them in our heads. As technology creeps into every corner of life, the number of accounts and passwords that each individual sets up is no longer as small as before, but has grown to tens and hundreds.

Therefore, choosing a password that is easy to enter, easy to remember, avoids complicated words to retrieve the password when forgotten is a trend that most people follow. Statistics show that “123456” or “password” are the most common and insecure password types.

However, Australians are different. The country recently warned people not to be complacent with online password security, as new research shows most are exposing themselves to cyber attacks and hackers.

New research from Telstra has revealed that almost 80% of the country’s population uses the same password for multiple accounts, while one in five people uses their pet’s name as a password.

More specifically, the study found that 20% of Australians use their pet’s name in their passwords, while 13% use generic words like “password” or “123456”. This trend is twice as common in men as in women.

Birthdays and names of favorite sports teams are also common words in passwords, with favorite sports team names being the most common naming habit among Gen Ys (those born 1981-1996).

These trends are also observed among younger generations, with 23% of Generation Z (those born between 1997-2012) and 21% of Millennials admitting they do not securely set or manage passwords. .

With the aforementioned alarming statistics, Telstra has launched the Be SUSS campaign to help the community better protect themselves online. The initiative urges Australians to be suspicious of unknown numbers, update software as needed, strengthen passwords and enable multi-factor authentication.

Multi-factor authentication is a setting that requires users who log into a website or account to use a combination of authentication methods, sometimes across multiple devices.

Password managers, often built into web browsers, help people securely set and store more complex passwords.

People are also warned to use passwords for different accounts despite 1.4 million Australians admitting they use the same password on 10 or more different devices or accounts.

What is a strong password?

Hackers often publish large-scale lists of stolen usernames and passwords. theft, allowing other cybercriminals to easily access victim accounts.

According to the latest ScamWatch data, more than $194 million is an estimated loss this year related to scams and hacks, which mainly comes from setting insecure passwords.

Telstra cybersecurity expert Darren Pauli said increasing password protection would prevent individuals from becoming “targets” of scammers.

“Criminals are relentless and will exploit the trend of using the same password across multiple accounts. They only need to get one password and many other accounts will be compromised,” the expert said.

Pauli also points out that many people don’t know what a good password is, sometimes thinking that the simple password they just set is enough for security. “Contrary to popular belief, the best way is to use a unique but easy to remember passphrase. Make sure the password includes a few uppercase letters or special characters.

According to Telstra, use a password that is a normal sentence, with a space, add a number and a few capital letters somewhere to create a unique combination. Don’t use clichés or well-known phrases because they are predictable.

More importantly, don’t write your passwords on paper and take them out of the house. With that, never share passwords with anyone you don’t trust.