NordPass has released its sixth annual study of the world’s 200 most common passwords. Unfortunately, it seems the sixth time still isn’t a charm, with the list still topping the list with many of the same easy-to-flush suspects as last year.

“After analyzing 6 years of data, we can say that there hasn’t been much improvement in people’s password habits,” NordPass wrote. It’s easy to imagine an air of resignation around this statement.

This year The NordPass study was conducted in collaboration with NordStellar and used a 2.5TB database of information collected from publicly available resources, including some found on the dark web. The passwords used were exposed via malware or in data leaks, with the full study using information from people in 44 countries.

According to NordPass research, the 10 most used passwords worldwide in 2024 are:

1. 123456

2. 123456789

3. 12345678

4. password

5. qwerty123

6. qwerty1

7. 111111

8. 12345

9. secret

10. 123123

NordPass estimates that it would take a hacker less than a second to crack each of these passwords. This is the fifth year that “123456” has topped the list, having been beaten just once since NordPass began its annual study.

The list looks slightly different when considering passwords for US accounts only, although there is still a lot of overlap. While the global list favors number-based passwords, likely because they are used in different languages, the top 10 most popular passwords in the United States in 2024 feature more English entries:

1. secret

2. 123456

3. password

4. qwerty123

5. qwerty1

6. 123456789

7. password1

8. 12345678

9. 12345

10. abc123

These too would take less than a second to crack.

The most popular password for American businesses is “password”

This year, NordPass also compiled a separate list of passwords used for business accounts. Most passwords used in the study were disclosed with a matching email address, allowing NordPass to distinguish between business and personal accounts by looking at the domain name.

Unfortunately, it seems that the hours of mandatory corporate privacy training we’ve all endured haven’t paid off, with people still using weak passwords that are the same or similar to those they use in their private lives. .

The 10 most popular passwords used at work in 2024 are:

1. 123456

2. 123456789

3. 12345678

4. secret

5. password

6. qwerty123

7. qwerty1

8. 111111

9. 123123

10. 1234567890

In the United States specifically, the most popular business passwords in 2024 are:

1. password

2. 123456

3. qwerty123

4. qwerty1

5. Aaron431

6. password1

7. to welcome

8. 12345678

9. Password1

10. abc123

“aaron431” is an unusual outlier compared to its compatriots, having no overtly obvious rhyme or reason. However, it has been recognized as a popular password in several industries For years. Some have speculated that “aaron431” is the default password for a widely used program and people just haven’t bothered to change it. NordPass estimates that it would take a hacker about five minutes to decrypt it.

If you are guilty of using any of these popular passwords, now would be a good time to consider changing them and get a password manager. Even if you don’t use any of the entries on these lists, a password manager will go a long way in helping you keep your passwords and data secure.