Say 'pass' to poor passwords When you sign up to an online service and it comes to the dreaded ‘Please create a new password’ message, it is all too easy to fall into bad security habits by reusing an old password, or simply changing the number at the end. Committing to creating secure passwords and kicking poor habits into the past is a great way to start when improving your safety online. How to create safer passwords There’s a lot of guidance out there on what makes a good password — and it can be incredibly confusing. But it’s actually not difficult to create a password you can remember. For example, did you know you can create secure passwords using three random words? You just put them together, like 'coffeetrainholiday' or ‘papertabletshirt’. A lot of websites even let you use spaces in your password, which helps with complexity and length (and the way your fingers might want to naturally type!) You can choose words that are memorable but avoid those which might be easy to guess, such as 'onetwothree' or words that are closely related to you personally, such as the names of family members or pets. Online services called password managers are also helpful at minimising the number of passwords you need to remember because they create the details you need to access online services (typically a username and password) and store them securely in an online 'vault', which is accessed via a master password. More information on these can be found on the National Cyber Security Centre website. Why would anyone be interested in me? This is a common question! Most emails are hacked by automated programmes using computing power that can run through thousands of combinations per second – or simply use a file of stolen credentials from a data breach. So, in most cases it isn’t personal, it’s an automated, wide scale, ‘have a go’ attack – meaning anyone could be at risk. Why are emails hacked? In the modern world, your email account is often the door to your world, life, everything…! Once an attacker has access to your email account it is possible to gain access to every other account. How? Simple: from the email account, it is possible to see what other accounts you have and from there it is possible to request a password reset. So, from access to your email, an attacker can gain access to ALL your accounts. Your challenge Now you understand why and how secure passwords are important, it’s well worthwhile setting aside half an hour to go through your accounts and strengthen your passwords – particularly on those accounts which have had the same password for years, or are protected by a simple ‘one word’ password as these are much more likely to be hacked by attackers. Just be sure to avoid the most common passwords listed below. Take the time to set this positive new security habit, and it will pay dividends! Top 50 most used passwords to avoid: 12345 123456 123456789 test1 password 12345678 zinch g_czechout asdf qwerty 1234567890 1234567 Aa123456. iloveyou 1234 abc123 111111 123123 dubsmash test princess qwertyuiop sunshine BvtTest123 11111 ashley 00000 000000 password1 monkey livetest 55555 soccer charlie asdfghjkl 654321 family michael 123321 football baseball q1w2e3r4t5y6 nicole jessica purple shadow hannah chocolate michelle Daniel Most common passwords seen on mobile devices to avoid: 111111 000000 123456 From a best practice perspective Quilter users must comply with the following requirements: Minimum password length of 8 characters however it’s recommended that password minimums need to be increased to 15 characters to keep our network and yourself safe. Set a complex password via the use of 3 of the following character classes: i) alphabetical characters; ii) numerical characters; iii) upper and lower case alphabetical characters; iv) special characters or symbols. Information Terms of use Privacy notice Cookie notice Accessibility Secure email Our brands Legal Modern Slavery Act Suppliers Contact us Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4AB facebook twitter youtube linkedin