These passwords must be changednow.gettyUpdate, Jan. 21, 2025: This story, originally published Jan. 20, now has further detail on the hacked password list, including an analysis of the five passwords for which a successful compromise attack is considered most likely.Its hard to find anything good to say about passwords, truth be told. You either hate them or you hate them. While the push for a more secure alternative in passkeys is ongoing, most of us are stuck with password protection for most of our accounts right now. Which is a problem, given high-speed brute-force password attacks on Microsoft users, poor router password security issues, 2FA bypass attacks and sign-in-with-Google hacking tactics being exploited. All of this makes using a strong and secure password a must, something people on this recently published list are most certainly not doing. Heres what you need to know and the passwords you need to change right now.Change Your Password Now If Its On This ListSecurity researchers from anyIP, a mobile proxy service, have analyzed the results of research undertaken by NordVPN, which revealed the worst 200 passwords being used across 2024. Although Im not keen on the old-chestnut of this password can be cracked in less than a second hacking speeds when it comes to password security or strength because those measurements are arbitrary at best and dangerously ingenuous at worst, theres no denying that the resulting top ten of most hackable passwords is one any user who cares about their account security should be steering very clear of.The anyIP researchers found that, sadly, all too believably, password was the most used of these intolerably weak and useless passwords. The rest of the list wasnt any more comforting to a veteran cybersecurity professional who has been spreading the word about the importance of secure password usage for three decades. In the No. 2 spot was the keyboard-crawler of qwerty123 followed by qwerty1 and 123456. Being a U.K.-specific list, this included place names and sports teams specific to Britain, but any geographic region would see a similar weak password pattern emerge; just replace those cities and teams with your own.Tip ten most hackable passwords in the U.K.anyIPThese findings highlight the alarming prevalence of predictable and easily hackable passwords, Khaled Bentoumi, co-founder of anyIP, said. Hackers are increasingly using sophisticated tools to breach accounts in seconds, and relying on weak passwords is akin to leaving your front door unlocked. Bentoumi is not wrong; the idea that convenience still trumps security for many users reflects poorly upon the cybersecurity industry for not doing better and on commentators such as myself for not getting the poor security message across more successfully.MORE FOR YOUAnalyzing The Password ListMost Likely To Be HackedThe anyIP researchers analysis used a calculation based on data collected between 2019 and 2024 to determine how many times each password had been used in an attack. They also took an in-depth look at some of the most at risk passwords globally that this methodology uncovered.123456 - This easy to remember, and easier to type, numeric sequence was used a staggering 112 million times. This password is especially prevalent due to its ease of recall, the researchers said, but it can be breached instantly by automated hacking tools, posing a severe security threat. To be honest, I think we should all have reached that conclusion a long time ago, but the numbers dont lie. Literally. 123456789 was used more than 50 million times, and 12345 was found 36.5 million times. Nearly 50% of the most frequently used passwords around the globe this year consist of simple keyboard patterns of letters and numbers, the researchers warned.password - The analysis revealed that password is both common and persistent in usage. In the United States, the researchers said, it holds the position of the third most popular password, while for those in the UK and Australia, it takes the top spot. Apparently, every year, it consistently appears at the top of the lists across various countries despite being so patently weak and easy to hack. Ditto when it comes to qwerty, which is the most common password in Canada, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Finland and Norway.Global list of most frequently used passwordsanyIPWhat Users Need To Do Now To Mitigate Password Hacking RiskAs mentioned, moving to a passkey-based login process is recommended wherever it is available. You can try a simple passkey demo at Passkeys.io and see just how painless they are to use and create. The takeaway from the technology perspective is that passkeys are all but impossible, although nothing is 100% secure, for hackers to guess or intercept. They arent shared during the sign-in process, and the keys are randomly generated to begin with.Theres a clue here to making your passwords more secure: randomly generate them using a password manager to ensure strength, complexity and uniqueness. Never reuse your passwords either, although if its something like password or qwerty123 that would be the least of your problems.