US Password Study Finds Predictable Choices

Do you think your passwords stand out? NordPass looked at how people of different ages protect their accounts and found that most rely on the same predictable choices. In the US, ‘admin’ and ‘password’ are the most common, with over 500,000 accounts using them. The research shows that every age group leans a bit too much on short number runs like ‘12345.’ Older adults tend to mix in names, while younger groups opt for long number lines or trendy phrases like ‘skibidi.’ Even with more special characters showing up this year, many entries still follow simple patterns like ‘P@ssw0rd.’

The report also shows a steady stream of simple keyboard paths such as ‘qwerty’ and ‘1q2w3e4r5t.’ These patterns make accounts far too easy to guess. Strong passwords help a lot, especially when each one is unique (store them in a password manager) and two-factor authentication is enabled. These habits cut the chances that someone can walk right into your account with a simple guess.