
The passwords that should be banned from being used in NJ
We're being fooled, New Jersey. Individuals are being hacked like never before all over the country. Countless times we're seeing online accounts being taken over by someone else because they were able to crack the code (aka password).
Email accounts are another one. Criminals figure out the password and start using that account for their own personal gain.
What's more, these criminals may change the password so you can't get back in. It's a terrible situation, but it happens far too often.
There's no escaping
Even the biggest companies can't get away from it. So much personal, financial, and potentially damaging information ends up at the fingertips of cybercriminals.
The worst part about it? Most of these situations could have been avoided had the companies or individuals not been so lazy in selecting a secure password.
And those of us in New Jersey are no exception. You'd think by now we'd learn, but nope. As a whole, we keep picking the same passwords over and over again.
Are we really that lazy?
Apparently so. In fact, the top password worldwide in 2024 was the ever-famous "123456."
But why does that matter for New Jersey? Well, because our number one password last year as a state was also "123456."
Now sure, some of us are getting clever and adding a 7 or 8... or perhaps both, at the end of that password. That makes sense since some passwords are required to be a certain length.
Another common password is "password," or "Password1." Seriously, if you're that lazy then you deserve to be hacked.
Even more basics
Other passwords that are not secure whatsoever but yet are as popular as ever are "admin," "secret," and "abc123." There's really no point in going over all of the most common passwords because a vast majority of them are just a combination or variation of the ones already mentioned above.
What's crazy about this is that the same passwords end up at the top of these lists year after year. Just look any of them up from any of the past years and you'll see it for yourself.
As much as I hate to say it, I'm wondering if the only way we can protect ourselves is to ban "123456," "password," "abc123," and any other common variation of those from being used as passwords. And being "admin" and "secret" are now up there, let's throw those onto the list as well.
We deserve it
Look, there's a reason cybercriminals are getting into your accounts so easily... you're making it relatively simple for them. Those criminals understand the meaning of insanity, and they're taking advantage of it.
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Gallery Credit: Mike Brant
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The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.
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