The Most Hackable Passwords of 2024: Why “Secret” Isn’t So Secret After All

Let’s face it—everyone’s been told to keep their passwords a secret, but in a twist that’ll have you doing a digital facepalm, the word “secret” topped the list as the worst password in 2024. Yes, that’s right, thousands of people thought they were clever by using “secret” as their password, but this choice turned out to be anything but secure.

Why “Secret” Is a Hacker’s Dream

Each year, cybersecurity company NordPass takes a deep dive into the sea of leaked and hacked passwords to identify the most commonly used and easily cracked ones.

This year’s findings revealed that “secret” was the most hacked password in the United States, used over 328,000 times. Even more alarming? It takes less than a second for cybercriminals to crack it.

A Look at the Rest of the Worst

Coming in at number two is the classic “123456,” which holds the notorious title of being the #1 most hackable password globally. Filling out the rest of the top 10 list in the U.S. are the usual suspects:

• “Password”
• “qwerty123”
• “qwerty1”
• “123456789”
• “password1”
• “12345678”
• “12345”
• “abc123”

If you see your password here, it’s time to make a serious change.

The Honourable Mentions

Not all of the worst passwords are straight-up strings of numbers or the word “password.” Other popular choices that’ll make any cybersecurity expert cringe include:

• “iloveyou”
• “baseball”
• “princess”
• “football”
• “monkey”
• “sunshine”

These might sound harmless, even sentimental, but they’re highly predictable and easily cracked by even the most basic hacking tools.

A Global Problem

While it’s easy to poke fun at the U.S. for its password habits, the truth is that people all over the world are guilty of using laughably simple passwords.

NordPass’s top 200 list includes some truly head-scratching entries like “TrustNo1,” “let me in,” and the overused “p@ssw0rd.”

Related: THE WORST PASSWORDS OF THE YEAR!

The Takeaway: How to Keep Your Passwords Safe

If your password remotely resembles anything in the lists above, consider this your sign to switch it up. Strong passwords should be unique, and long, and include a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. And please, avoid using “secret”—because when it comes to cybersecurity, secrets don’t stay safe for long.