How To Protect Passwords

Soon, Microsoft Authenticator will cease its autofill support, with all saved passwords being deleted in August. Here's how to switch or export your data

Over 16 billion passwords have been leaked in a global cyber breach, and experts warn your personal accounts could be at risk without you even knowing it

The most common password was "123456" and a hacker would probably take less than a second to crack it, according to a study conducted by NordPass, a software company that helps users organise their passwords. The password "123456" was held by about 45 lakhs accounts, the study found in partnership with independent experts specialising in researching cybersecurity incidents, according to the Panama-based company's website. The second and the third most popular passwords were "admin" and "12345678", used in about 40 lakhs and 13.7 lakhs accounts, respectively, the study findings on the website show. In India, the most common password was "123456", kept in around 3.6 lakhs accounts, followed by "admin", used in around 1.2 lakhs accounts, according to the website. The research team analysed passwords from a 6.6 Terabyte-database, which were stolen by employing various stealer malware, such as Redline, Vidar, Taurus, Raccoon, Azorult, and Cryptbot, it said. Malware logs included both .

In 2023, "123456" was the most common password used by Indians; almost a third of the world's most popular passwords consist of numerical sequences

Apple to add support for Passkey authentication to all supported devices with the release of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma later this year

We routinely ignore the recommendations for good passwords in the name of convenience

If you must create your own passwords, try creating long, complex passwords