Too many people are using the same password for all the websites they access, according to new research.
Strings of consecutive numbers and the word 'Password' itself dominate the top ten, which also sees 'rockyou' and 'iloveyou' as commonly used, according to a study carried out by data security company Imperva.
Approximately half of computer users are guilty of assigning very similar details to each internet page they need passwords to access.
Principal researcher at consumer watchdog Which?, Martyn Saville, said the results are "breathtaking", he added: "There are enough threats to our online security around without making it so easy for fraudsters to steal your identity and your cash."
Family names, pets, nicknames and birthdays are easy to guess and security expert at Which? suggests avoiding these as well.
A combination of upper and lower-case letters and special characters such as the keyboard's pound or percentage signs are ideal and could prevent real words from the dictionary being used.
However, consumers may not have realised the answers to their security questions could be displayed on their Facebook profiles.
An article by USA Today revealed one user's pets' and children's names that may have comprised his login details for websites.
Strings of consecutive numbers and the word 'Password' itself dominate the top ten, which also sees 'rockyou' and 'iloveyou' as commonly used, according to a study carried out by data security company Imperva.
Approximately half of computer users are guilty of assigning very similar details to each internet page they need passwords to access.
Principal researcher at consumer watchdog Which?, Martyn Saville, said the results are "breathtaking", he added: "There are enough threats to our online security around without making it so easy for fraudsters to steal your identity and your cash."
Family names, pets, nicknames and birthdays are easy to guess and security expert at Which? suggests avoiding these as well.
A combination of upper and lower-case letters and special characters such as the keyboard's pound or percentage signs are ideal and could prevent real words from the dictionary being used.
However, consumers may not have realised the answers to their security questions could be displayed on their Facebook profiles.
An article by USA Today revealed one user's pets' and children's names that may have comprised his login details for websites.
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