To keep your email or social media accounts secure it is a good idea to update your password every once in a while.
And with May 4 being World Password Day, it is a great reminder to check in and figure out whether one, two or a few of your passwords are in need of a refresh.
However, there are a few important things to bear in mind when making the change to ensure your security is up to scratch. It is important to avoid things like common words and phrases to avoid making your account easy to hack as cyber thieves look to take advantage of simplistic passwords in a bid to access personal data.
To help out, the team at NordPass have studied passwords used across the UK to come up with the top 20 most popular combinations. The experts are urging anyone using these passwords or similar to change them immediately, reports the Mirror.
20 most popular password in the UK - full list
- password
- 123456
- guest
- liverpool
- qwerty
- arsenal
- 123456789
- password1
- 12345
- 2345678
- chelsea
- charlie
- abc123
- liverpool1
- Parola12
- football
- monkey
- chocolate
- yuantuo2012
- letmein
Chief technology officer at Nordpass said: "Throughout the years, we observe almost identical password management mistakes, which suggests people simply prefer convenience.
"If we cannot do better with passwords, we should do better than passwords. Last year marks a huge milestone in search of alternative online authentication solutions, with passkey technology paving a way to replace passwords in the future."
If you think your password is too simple, meaning your account may be at risk, experts say you should change it up from time to time.
Try using a combination of words that are difficult to guess, using at least 12 characters as well as a mix of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols, advises NordPass.
Alternatively, tech firms such as Apple and Google will generate codes for you and save the passwords to your devices. This provides and easy way to generate a tricky to guess password and in turn secure accounts.
Top tips to secure your passwords
Despite many companies implementing security measures to help protect accounts, it remains vital that you choose passwords carefully.
Here are some tips to help improve your password "hygiene".
- Be aware of all accounts - experts say that you should delete any unused accounts and be aware of the exact number of accounts active to help prevent gaps in your password management.
- Use long, unique passwords and never use them for more than one account.
- Use a password manager - this technology solution fully encrypts passwords and allows secure sharing.
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