Massive Gawker Hack Reveals the Web's Most Stupid Passwords

This past Sunday, a group called Gnosis launched a massive hacker attack on Gawker media, one of the web's most popular blog networks (Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Jezebel, io9, Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin and Fleshbot). 1.3 million registered users' passwords were compromised, and 188,279 of them were decoded and made public. The biggest takeaway? Many Gawker denizens use downright dumb passwords. (Guess they didn't see their own Lifehacker's story on avoiding such a thing.)

The Wall Street Journal analyzed the leaked data and published this list of the 50 most-popular Gawker Media passwords:

123456? password? abc123? 111111? Startlingly weak. If you, too, are guilty of this, it's time to make a change. Other websites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Yahoo, are requesting widespread password resets. From PC Mag, here are four fairly obvious pointers so coming up with a strong password:

1. Diversify your bonds: You have different accounts, so why not different passwords? Mix it up. Ensure that if one of your accounts gets hacked, the rest stay secure.

2. Keep a lid on it: Keep your passwords to yourself.

3. Pump up your password strength: Substitute numbers for letters. Use the caps. Or go Da Vinci and spell words backwards.

4. Update your wardrobe regularly: There's a fashion for every season. There also ought to be a password. Every time you buy a new pair of socks, change your passwords. 

For more detailed information, check out PC Mag's full article on Password Protection.

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• Previously, "How I'd Hack Your Weak Passwords"- The Art of Cracking.
• How Long Would it Take to Crack Your Password?