World Password Day: Your password could be cracked in seconds

Key takeaways

• We keep using weak passwords because we manage many accounts every day, so creating and remembering complex passwords becomes hard. Recent data from NordPass reveals that the average person now manages 120 passwords opens in a new tab. With that many accounts to track, most of us choose what’s easy to remember rather than what’s hard to hack.

• In the US, “admin” remains the most common password opens in a new tab, which automated tools can crack in seconds. In fact, Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report opens in a new tab found that 88% of breaches involve weak or stolen credentials. That’s why you shouldn’t exchange security for convenience when creating passwords.

• However, it’s not all on users — the platforms we trust often set the security bar too low. A NordPass study of the world’s top 1,000 websites opens in a new tab found that 58% of them do not require special characters in passwords. When websites don’t enforce better standards, they’re encouraging bad habits. To keep your digital identity safe, create complex, unique passwords, combining lower- and upper-case letters, numbers, and special characters.