--- title: Top 25 Worst Passwords of 2017 description: These are the 25 most common passwords of 2017, according to data from 5 million leaked accounts in North America and Europe. canonical: https://time.com/5071176/worst-passwords-2017/ author: Lena Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-19T16:13:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:42:52.491Z og:title: The Worst 25 Passwords of 2017 og:description: You should never bring these passwords into 2018 og:url: https://time.com/5071176/worst-passwords-2017/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt950fc8b48e34b0c6/6988f5b3db29874e3d25e254/worst-passwords-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5500 og:image:height: 3094 og:image:alt: Man operating a touch screen mobile phone with a laptop in the background. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Worst 25 Passwords of 2017 twitter:description: You should never bring these passwords into 2018 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt950fc8b48e34b0c6/6988f5b3db29874e3d25e254/worst-passwords-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Worst 25 Passwords of 2017 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=9cff9948-17bc-4821-877e-9aab1fff6843&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Easy Ways to Stop Your Gadgets From Spying on You [Watch (HLS stream): Easy Ways to Stop Your Gadgets From Spying on You](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/654jrTRA.m3u8) (1:07)  _Published 2017-03-14. While it's unlikely that your Mr. Coffee is a secret government spy, it's still smart to take your personal privacy seriously. Here are seven things you can do to protect yourself in our increasingly connected world._ by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Dec 19, 2017 4:13 PM UTC While it's unlikely that your Mr. Coffee is a secret government spy, it's still smart to take your personal privacy seriously. Here are seven things you can do to protect yourself in our increasingly connected world. by [Lena Grossman](https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/) ## Lena Grossman Dec 19, 2017 4:13 PM UTC “Hacking” and “hackers” are two terms that resonated with 2017\. It wasn’t just widespread coverage of [election hacking](http://time.com/4865798/russia-hacking-election-day-obama-plan/). From [Equifax](http://time.com/4947339/equifax-second-hack-earlier-march/), [Uber](http://time.com/5034399/uber-cyber-attack-hack-57-million/), [_Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/5033661/hbo-hacking-behzad-mesri-charged/) and even [Gordon Ramsay’s father-in-law](http://time.com/4810244/gordon-ramsay-father-in-law-chris-hutcheson-email-hacking/), both the hackers and the hacked brought to life a renewed conversation about [password protection](http://time.com/4941012/equifax-and-perils-of-password-protection/). [SplashData](http://www.splashdata.com/), the password management provider, [just released its annual list](https://www.teamsid.com/worst-passwords-2017-full-list/) of “Worst Passwords of the Year” using data from 5 million leaked passwords from users in North America and Western Europe. According to SplashData, the results do not include passwords from [Yahoo’s security breach](http://fortune.com/2017/10/03/yahoo-breach-mail/) that impacted 3 billion accounts. The worst passwords in 2017 included some repeat offenders and completely new terms. Just like [last year,](http://time.com/4639791/worst-passwords-2016/) the first and second most used passwords were “123456” and “Password,” respectively. While “12345” went down two spots to the number 5 slot, “123456789” was a new addition at number 8. [_Star Wars_](http://time.com/4936666/star-wars-actors-almost-cast-leonardo-dicaprio/) and _Game of Thrones_ fans are not exempt from this list, either. Users should take the force from [_Star Wars: The Last Jedi_ ](http://time.com/5070022/star-wars-the-last-jedi-kid-at-the-end/)and create some stronger passwords. For the first time, “starwars” rang in at the 16th spot, and “dragon” increased one spot to number 18. Stuck on how to create a stronger and less hacker-friendly password? According to SplashData, the key is using at least 12 characters with a combination of upper and lowercase letters and characters. Try switching up passwords for various websites, too. Here’s the full list for 2017’s worst passwords: 123456 Password 12345678 qwerty 12345 123456789 letmein 1234567 football iloveyou admin welcome monkey login abc123 starwars 123123 dragon passw0rd maste hello freedom whatever qazwsx trustno1 ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5071176/worst-passwords-2017/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5071176/worst-passwords-2017/"},"headline":"The Worst 25 Passwords of 2017","datePublished":"2017-12-19T16:13:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T08:42:52.491Z","description":"Including \"Password\"","url":"https://time.com/5071176/worst-passwords-2017/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Tech","cyber security"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt950fc8b48e34b0c6/6988f5b3db29874e3d25e254/worst-passwords-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lena Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lena-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt950fc8b48e34b0c6/6988f5b3db29874e3d25e254/worst-passwords-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Man operating a touch screen mobile phone with a laptop in the background.","caption":"Man operating a touch screen mobile phone with a laptop in the background.","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5071176/worst-passwords-2017/","name":"The Worst 25 Passwords of 2017"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Easy Ways to Stop Your Gadgets From Spying on You","description":"While it's unlikely that your Mr. Coffee is a secret government spy, it's still smart to take your personal privacy seriously. 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