Weak passwords making life easy for the hackers

Skating on PIN ice with cop-outs like admin...

- BY DANNY DE VAAL

IF you've ever rolled your eyes at a security prompt and typed "admin" or "123456" into a password box, you're not alone - and if you live in Ireland, you might be in the majority.

This year's NordPass report, which ranks the world's most-used passwords, is out and reveals that "admin" has leapfrogged "123456" to nudge its way to the top in Ireland for 2025.

The much-anticipated "Top 200 Most Common Passwords" list resembles opening a time capsule - only to find out everyone's still leaving the key under the mat.

The seventh edition doesn't disappoint: it's packed with familiar faces and a few eyebrow-raisers, especially if you're curious about what your neighbours (and maybe your grandparents) are using to guard their digital secrets.

In Ireland "admin" is now the king of passwords. Last year's "123456" is still hanging around, but it's been demoted to eighth place.

In second place is "Abdel123," and not far behind are quirky picks like "ismellpennys" and "Unicornn".