--- title: Worst Passwords description: As usual, way too many people are still using bad passwords like "password" and "123456," making them easy victims of hacking. canonical: https://time.com/4639791/worst-passwords-2016/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-23T05:12:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:53.908Z og:title: The 25 Worst Passwords You Should Never Use og:description: If you're still using "password," it's definitely time to make a change. og:url: https://time.com/4639791/worst-passwords-2016/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf493e1b97272978a/6988b63b656a3f06c2bce72a/password-stock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4754 og:image:height: 2674 og:image:alt: Password Icon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The 25 Worst Passwords You Should Never Use twitter:description: If you're still using "password," it's definitely time to make a change. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf493e1b97272978a/6988b63b656a3f06c2bce72a/password-stock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 25 Worst Passwords You Should Never Use > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=79a6e961-f1de-4795-b750-3c22346b4d7d&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Tech Time: Is Face Scanning the Future of Security? [Watch (HLS stream): Tech Time: Is Face Scanning the Future of Security?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kCXAmgKD.m3u8) (1:53)  _Published 2015-08-24. Using Biometrics, some companies are making it so that you never have to remember a password again. But is it really the most secure method? TIME Tech Editor Alex Fitzpatrick weighs in._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 23, 2017 5:12 AM UTC  Password Icon Password Icon Steven Puetzer—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 23, 2017 5:12 AM UTC If all the recent news of hacking has you concerned about [digital breaches](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-hackers-runner-up/?iid=sr-link1), consider these passwords you probably should steer clear of. SplashData released its annual list of the 25 worst passwords. The password management provider releases the repeat offenders culled from more than five million passwords leaked over the year, mostly in North America and Western Europe. The usual suspects listed below made up more than 10% of the survey, and 4% were “123456.” That makes the string of numbers officially the worst password of 2016, according to their findings, meaning it’s the easiest to guess and easiest to breach. Reportedly, [Even John Podesta](http://time.com/4308369/hillary-clinton-john-podesta/?iid=sr-link1), Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, made himself an ideal target by using their second worst password, simply the word “password.” [As seen](http://time.com/3672431/worst-passwords/?iid=sr-link2') [year in](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/01/20/the-25-worst-passwords-of-2013/?iid=sr-link3) and [year out](http://techland.time.com/2012/10/25/these-are-the-25-worst-passwords-of-2012/?iid=sr-link4), “123456,” “password,” and variations on those themes are the biggest culprits; 17 of these super-obvious codes also popped up [on the 2015 list](http://time.com/4180863/25-worst-passwords-2015/?iid=sr-link1). “Football” and “princess” are more popular now than ever, while newcomers to the penalty box include terms like “hottie,” “flower,” “sunshine,” and “loveme.” And if you’re wondering about the weirdest popular password on this list—”zaq1zaq1″—that’s just the series of keys on the left column of the keyboard. “Making minor modifications to an easily guessable password does not make it secure, and hackers will take advantage of these tendencies,” said Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData, Inc. [To protect yourself](http://techland.time.com/2011/06/29/two-minute-video-how-to-create-strong-online-passwords/?iid=sr-link3), make sure your passwords have more than eight characters, combine letters and numbers, and definitely don’t resign yourself to simple or repeating patterns. Worried about forgetting? There’s an [app for that.](http://www.splashdata.com/) Here’s the full list of 25 worst passwords for 2016: * 123456 * password * 12345 * 12345678 * football * qwerty * 1234567890 * 1234567 * princess * 1234 * login * welcome * solo * abc123 * admin * 121212 * flower * passw0rd * dragon * sunshine * master * hottie * loveme * zaq1zaq1 * password1 ## Transcript [ SOUND ] Look, nobody likes passwords. They're hard to remember, you forget them all the time. You have to ask companies to send you new ones, it's a total pain. But what if your face, your fingerprints, or even your eyes could replace passwords entirely. Using something called biometrics, a lot of companies are already doing Companies can identify you by your face, your fingerprint, your eyes, basically anything that you have that other people don't, it's unique to you. And that can let you get into your bank account, your computer, your phone, all without remembering a password at all. Lots of popular companies are trying biometrics. Apple and Samsung phones have fingerprint scanners that let you access your phone. Some Windows 10 computers can recognize your face so you don't have to enter in a password at all. And even some banks are experimenting with ATMs that scan your eye and lets you get into your bank account. Isn't that all better than remembering cupcake start 82? But are biometrics really safer then passwords? Researchers recently found that an older HTC phone was storing fingerprint scans without any real protection at all, meaning any app on that phone could access your fingerprint scan and do whatever with it That's not good. You can't change your fingerprint like you can change a password. If somebody happens to learn my Twitter password, I can go and change it really quickly. But I can't just burn off my thumbprint and get a new one. That would really hurt and I don't wanna do that. Ultimately maybe biometrics shouldn't replace passwords entirely. Maybe the two should work in tandem and you'll still have to remember a password, but your eyeball scan or your fingerprint can be an extra layer of security on top of that. So will biometrics create a whole new way of stealing your identity? It sounds really suspicious. If I can log into my computer with my face, what's stopping someone from holding up a picture of my face and getting into my computer? Well, it turns out biometric software is pretty good at Preventing that kind of trickery, and that means it's probably where were headed for the future of security. [ MUSIC ] Cool. 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