The 200 Most Common Passwords in Canada

NordPass, which sells password managements services, has released its list of the top 200 most common passwords in Canada. 

Can you guess this year's most common password?  It's an easy guess.  If you guessed "123456" you're correct!  Believe it or not, the second most commonly used password in Canada is in fact password.  With the increased cyber-attacks happening many Canadians are still using passwords that can be easily guessed.

The other passwords that topped the list were "qwerty", "abc123" and different variations of "123456." These passwords also dominated the list of most common passwords in other countries and around the world.

NordPass says Canadians had "perhaps the largest number of country-related passwords." "canada" was the 15th-most-common password in this country. Other common country-related passwords on the list include "toronto," "montreal" and "canada1."  "hockey" was the 11th-most-common password in Canada while "soccer," " baseball" and "basketball" ranked lower on the list.

There were also different favourites among genders.  Canadian men were more than three times as likely as women to use the password "hockey," while passwords like "iloveyou," "princess" and "sunshine" were far more common among women.

The study also found that many Canadians were using their own names as their password. "tiffany" was the eighth-most-common password in Canada. Names like "maggie," "matthew," "bailey," "michelle" and "andrew" were also in the top 50!

Did you know 144 out of the top 200 most common passwords in Canada can be cracked in less than one second? Canada had the eighth highest number of passwords leaked per capita out of the 50 countries studied.

“Unfortunately, passwords keep getting weaker and people still don’t maintain proper password hygiene,” NordPass Jonas Karklys said in a news release. “It’s important to understand that passwords are the gateway to our digital lives, and with us spending more and more time online, it’s becoming enormously important to take better care of our cybersecurity.”

Using a unique password for every account is the best way to keep your information protected. A good password should be at least 12 characters long with a combination of numbers, letters and symbols.

Nordpass mentions, since the average user has more than 100 accounts, storing them in a password manager can make it easier to keep track of passwords. Using multi-factor authentication, such as a text message code or an authenticator app, can also add an additional layer of protection.  Check out our blog on Multi-Factor Authentication for tips.

THE TOP 20 MOST COMMON PASSWORDS IN CANADA

1. 123456
2. password
3. 123456789
4. 12345
5. 12345678
6. qwerty
7. abc123
8. tiffany
9. password1
10. testing
11. hockey
12. 1234567
13. iloveyou
14. 1234
15. canada
16. 1234567890
17. 111111
18. sunshine
19. 123123
20. dragon

Source: CTV News, 2021, https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/do-you-use-one-of-the-20-most-common-passwords-in-canada-1.5675234