Hackers 'know the most common passwords'

2010-01-22

Computer users need to recognise that hackers know the most common passwords used by the public, it has been advised.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, said that hackers automatically attack online accounts with hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of predictable password choices to see if any of them work.

"In the past, internal accounts at Twitter for instance, have been broken into because the hackers have used a dictionary attack," Mr Cluley commented.

He said that the benefit of having a truly resilient is that it will prevent hack attacks, meaning cybercriminals cannot access emails, steal identities, access bank accounts, among other activities.

Mr Cluley pointed to the password-based attack on Britney Spears' Twitter account.

His comments come after information security firm Imperva recently released a report on consumer internet passwords, using data from its analysis of a hack on RockYou.com.

It found the most commonly-used password was found to be 123456.

Read more security news.