must be unique and kept secret at all costs. Today is not the day to forget passwords! Let’s uncover the secrets of how many passwords the average person has in 2022.
Contents hide
1 How many passwords will the average person have in 2022?
2 Password history
3 The Invention of Personal Computers and Passwords
4 Tips to Keep Your Passwords Strong
5 Most Commonly Used Passwords Around the World
6 Different Types of Password Attacks
6.1 Phishing
6.2 Password Spraying
6.3 Extortion
7 Best Password Organizer Apps
8 Conclusion
8.1 Related publications:
How many passwords will the average person have in 2022?
Our digital lives are full of successful and unsuccessful login attempts. This is all thanks to passwords, which protect our accounts from possible attacks . But how many passwords does the average person have in 2022? Research shows that a person with an active digital life has an average of 100 passwords. This is a significant increase compared to data published a year ago, where the threshold was between 70-80. Since our average human brain can only remember so much, there is no way we can remember different passwords for hundreds of different accounts. That is why the study also shows that people are more likely to use simple passwords or use the same password across all accounts in order to remember them.
Password history
Now that we know that the average person on the Internet creates at least 100 passwords, it’s time to delve into the history of this security feature. The idea of setting a password dates back to 1960. At that time, the MIT Computing Center was developing a system for compatible time-sharing. The new system needed a protective layer for users’ personal files, and Fernando Corbató introduced the idea of passwords to solve this problem .
The invention of personal computers and passwords
In the following years, digital passwords were used exclusively in an academic environment. At that time, personal computers were still not widely available, and only schools provided students with access to such technology. Thus, in the real world, passwords had no place to be forged. This continued until the first mass-produced computer appeared in the mid-1970s . In the following years, computer applications and programs emerged, leading to the explosion of dot-com sites. All of these developments contributed to the rise of passwords, making them a staple digital attribute to this day.
Tips for Keeping Passwords Strong
While it is convenient to use the same password for all your digital accounts, it is not optimal. Experts advise users to create different passwords for each account, which means that you are advised to set 100 different passwords if you have 100 different online accounts. Also, the length of the password is important. On average, Internet users use eight characters for their passwords. This is less than the recommended length of 12 characters to make them resistant to brute-force attacks, which hackers use to crack passwords by creating an algorithm. Also, to make passwords difficult to guess, you need to use random characters or a combination of letters, patterns such as uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
Commonly Used Passwords Around the World
One of the things that easily puts passwords in the hands of hackers is password spraying. This technique creates a list of the most common passwords used around the world and links them to an account. Here are the most common passwords used by digital users around the world.
The word "password" itself is used as a pass to log in to the system and tops the list
Number patterns "12345", "123456", "123456789", "1234567890" and "111111"
Keyboard template "qwerty" or "qwerty123"
If you don't want hackers to get into your account in a flash, never use any of these passwords.
Different types of password attacks
There is no one right rule when it comes to password attacks. Yes, each one is not created equal. Here are the most popular types of password attacks we have today.
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Phishing
With 300 billion emails sent every day, there is no other attack that can beat phishing . This method involves a hacker sending an email containing a malicious link . When this link is clicked, a code can be installed on the device that generates information to obtain your data . There are also cases where these links redirect the user to a site that hides under a password reset page, where they are asked to enter their account information, namely username and password.
Password spraying
This is another common method that allows you to guess a password in seconds. The hacker makes a list of user accounts and matches them with the commonly used passwords in the world listed above.
Extortion
Today, hackers have become more persistent in their actions and now directly ask the user to provide full account details. If the user does not comply, the hacker warns that he is performing actions related to the user, such as revealing a secret and similar bluffs.
Best Password Organizer Apps
Hacking incidents are happening all over the internet, and passwords are always the focus of their interest. Check out these password manager apps that are popular for their cleanliness and optimal security features.
1Password - uses multi-factor authentication, a password generator feature, and has a great amount of local storage.
Dashlane - has 24/7 email support and help guides for user questions, but its $60 per user premium subscription can be very expensive for casual users.
LastPass is a trusted app with a free option, a premium account costs $36 per user, but it doesn't allow local storage.
NordPass - does not have a Failsafe function, but is equipped with two-factor authentication , a passport generation function and allows you to store data on a local drive.
