Passwords are designed to protect us, but managing them in today’s technologically advanced world seems more trouble than it’s worth. Despite 2013 being a year of consumer awareness for a number of security and privacy issues, people still haven’t learned their lesson. According to the latest report from SplashData, the Worst Passwords of 2013 reveals how much consumers still struggle with digital protection.

The list shows the Top 25 worst Passwords for 2013, with “password” being unseated by “123456” in the top spot.  It seems people still use simple and easy-to-guess passwords, as well as using the service or app’s name in the password itself.

“Another interesting aspect of this year’s list is that more short numerical passwords showed up even though websites are starting to enforce stronger password policies,” Morgan Slain, the CEO of SplashData, said.

SplashData’s list was created using files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online during the previous year.

Check out SplashData’s Worst Password of 2013 below:

Image source: SplashData

.

If you’re one of those who still use easy to guess passwords, or the password you are using is on the list, here are some tips to get you off SpashData’s list:

5 tips to a more secure password

 .

Create a recipe for a strong password

Use a combination of letters and numbers, and don’t forget to capitalize some of the letters.  Use a word or phrase that only makes sense to you.  Don’t use the usual “iloveyou143” or your name and birthday, or your address and phone number.  Use something like BlueberryFriedIceCream16792.  It doesn’t make sense but it’s a bit easier to remember.

.

Mix it up

Don’t use the same password on multiple sites and services.  Imagine if you use the same password for your email, Facebook, Twitter, online banking, iTunes account or Google Play, PayPal and one of them got hacked?  It would be so easy to gain access to all your other accounts and do damage, like empty your bank account or rack up a huge bill on your iTunes or Google Play account.

.

Use two-step authentication

Most services these days offer two-step authentication, which means you need your mobile phone to login to a service.  You can do this by editing your account setting and adding your mobile phone number to your account and activating the two-step authentication.  What happens is, whenever you login to your account, you need to enter a code, which the service sends to your mobile device.  This keeps things secured as the codes are changed every time.

.

Remember your timeline

Another great thing to remember is to change your passwords at least every six months.  This way even if you unwittingly told your buddies about your password/s, you’re still able to protect yourself.

.

Password lockers

Managing too many passwords can be really tricky and it’s not that easy to remember which password goes with which service.  You can write things down on a piece of paper and keep that paper secured, but tangible things can easily get lost.  The best next thing, if you think you can’t rely on your memory to manage all these passwords, is to use a password locker like SplashID Safe, which has a 10 year history and over 1 million users. SplashID Safe allows you to store all your passwords and all other sensitive information in one place, and instead of entering a password for each site you manage, you just use SplashID Safe to gain access in one click.