Ninja-Movie-PasswordLook, we’re not trying to spark a religious debate here, and if Jesus is your co-pilot, that’s wonderful. But turning to ‘Jesus’ to secure your logins is about as ineffective as protecting your accounts with ‘Ninja’, which also appears on SplashData’s“Worst Passwords of 2012.” The self-explanatory list contains five new entries, two of which we just mentioned. What about the rest? Let’s have a look.

  1. password (unchanged)
  2. 123456 (unchanged)
  3. 12345678 (unchanged)
  4. abc123 (up 1)
  5. qwerty (down 1)
  6. monkey (unchanged)
  7. letmein (up 1)
  8. dragon (up 2)
  9. 111111 (up 3)
  10. baseball (up 1)
  11. iloveyou (up 2)
  12. trustno1 (down 3)
  13. 1234567 (down 6)
  14. sunshine (up 1)
  15. master (down 1)
  16. 123123 (up 4)
  17. welcome (new)
  18. shadow (up 1)
  19. ashley (down 3)
  20. football (up 5)
  21. jesus (new)
  22. michael (up 2)
  23. ninja (new)
  24. mustang (new)
  25. password1 (new)

SplashData compiled its list based on files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers. If you’re using one of the above passwords, and care at all about security, you should change it now.

“Even though each year hacking tools get more sophisticated, thieves still tend to prefer easy targets,” said Morgan Slain, SplashData CEO. “Just a little bit more effort in choosing better passwords will go a long way toward making you safer online.”

The best passwords contain at least eight characters and use a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols. We realize we’re preaching to the choir here, but you should also avoid using the same password for multiple logins, or at the very least keep your important accounts — bank login, work email, etc. — separate.

SplashData’s list follows a rash of hacker attacks in recent months, in which Last.fm, eHarmony, LinkedIn, Yahoo Voice, and several other high-profile online entities had user passwords stolen.

Original Post by Paul Lilly, Reposted Courtesy of Maximum PC – Covering everything from hi-end gaming PCs to tablets, peripherals and home theater rigs, Maximum PC’s print and Web editions stay one step ahead of the fast-changing world of everything computer and computing related. Whether its the latest on building your own desktop system, reviews of the latest laptops and accessories, orroundups of the games and software that make your machine go, Maximum PC brings it to you with news, reviews, and years of expertise. TechnoBuffalo is thrilled to bring you the best of Maximum PC right here on our own pages to keep you immersed in all things digital.