What are the most used passwords and why?

It sounds strange but in 2022, forty years after the birth of personal computers, the most used password in the world is the term “password”. This is not a pun but the result of the ranking established annually by NordPass.

According to research, in Italy the most common keyword used by users is a sequence of numbers: “123456”. Just as innocuous as using “password”. “Despite growing cybersecurity awareness, old habits die hard. Research shows that people still use weak passwords to protect their accounts,” says the company that compiles the list. According to the analysis, compared to 2021 data, 73% of the 200 most common passwords of 2022 remain the same.

Photo Ansa/EPA Sascha Steinbach

Additionally, 83% of the keywords on this year’s list can be deciphered in less than a second. Just like in the case of the word “password”. In second position in the list of the most used keywords in the world is the one used more than others in Italy, that is, the trivial numerical sequence “123456”. In third place in the NordPass ranking is another set of numbers: “123456789”. Both series, it was calculated, can be guessed in just one second. In fourth place, the word “guest” in fifth place “qwerty”. All passwords too weak to ensure effective computer security of your data.

Passwords in Italy

Back in Italy, according to NordPass analysis, in the second place of the most used passwords is “123456789”, in third place “password”, in fourth place “ciao”, in fifth place “juventus” . All decipherable in a second by potential pirates. Finally, according to the NordPass study, the sequence “123456” remains the most common password in many countries: not only in Italy, but also in Colombia, France and Japan.

However, there is also good news from Italy, again about information technology and computers (even if not passwords). The European supercomputer Leonardo, managed by Cineca, co-financed by Eurohpc Ju and the Ministry of University and Research, climbed places and rose to fourth place in the Top500. It is in the list of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. The announcement was made at Sc22, the world’s largest high-performance computing conference taking place in Dallas, Texas. Leonardo is located at the Tecnopolo in Bologna, where it will be inaugurated on November 24.

Emily’s Data Valley

The ceremony on November 24 will be dedicated to the scientific and technological research community in the presence of European, Italian and regional authorities. “The Data Valley of Emilia-Romagna – said the President of the Region Stefano Bonaccini – is increasingly an international Big Data platform for sustainable growth.” Positioning in fourth place in the Top500 list takes another reason for merit, as the system was installed in a very short time. The installation of Leonardo and its access passwords only began in July, and continued throughout the summer with the delivery of the 155 racks and thousands of components for the supercomputer. In this edition of the Top 500, in addition to Leonardo, Cineca is also present with Marconi100, in 24th place. In addition, the Consortium manages Eni’s HPC5 supercomputer, in 13th place, the most powerful system dedicated to industrial applications.

Photo Twitter @Cineca1969