Workplace security | Are you using the most hacked password at work?

Cyber security in the age of GDPR enforcement has never been more important. For businesses such as Apple and Microsoft, security breaches have cost companies millions, whilst the punitive measures handed down to those in smaller operations can easily be enough to put the company out of business - BBC reports.

It’s a worrying issue, and ultimately one that you should be ever-conscious of when choosing passwords for work accounts, yet the truth is that many simply stick with the stock passwords that are given to them when the account is set up.

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According to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, the single most-hacked password in history is, unsurprisingly, ‘123456’; the simple string of numbers appeared in more than 23million passwords, with the second most popular being ‘123456789’. These were closely followed by ‘qwerty’, ‘1111111’ and simply ‘password’.

So what other key terms are poor choices for passwords? Well, the names of loved ones is a common choice, according to the NCSC, with names such as Ashley, Michael, Daniel, Jessica and Charlie amongst the most frequently used.