From csoonline.com
![CSO > Password elimination [conceptual password security lock in a trash bin]](https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2019/06/cso_password_elimination_abstract_passwords_by_bluebay2014_gettyimages-924698706_trashed_security_lock_in_garbage_can_by_porcorex_gettyimages-916512456_2400x1600-100798132-large.jpg)
Pop quiz: What has been the most popular — and therefore least secure — password every year since 2013? If you answered “password,” you’d be close. “Qwerty” is another contender for the dubious distinction, but the champion is the most basic, obvious password imaginable: “123456.”
Yes, tons of people still use “123456” as a password, according to NordPass’s 200 most common passwords of the year for 2020, which is based on analysis of passwords exposed by data breaches. The six-digit sequence has also ranked high on other lists over the years; SplashData, which has come up with lists using similar methodology, found “123456” in second place in 2011 and 2012; it then jumped up to number one where it stayed every year right through 2019.