Excerpt: Despite ongoing warnings about password hygiene, the latest NordPass analysis reveals that users persistently opt for shockingly weak credentials. Our deep dive into the Top 20 most common passwords uncovers alarming patterns and underscores the urgent need for stronger, individualized security measures.

Overview of the Top 20 Passwords

The NordPass dataset highlights which passwords are most prevalent globally, revealing that all 20 entries can be cracked in under one second. The concentration of simple numeric sequences dominates the list, reflecting a troubling reliance on easily guessable strings ^[3]

Top 20 Most Common Passwords (2025) – Time to Crack & Estimated Count

Key Insights from the Data

• Uniformly Fast Crack Times: Every password in the list takes less than one second to breach using standard brute-force tools.
• Numeric Dominance: Half of the top 20 are strictly number-based, underscoring the false sense of security users place in simple digit strings.
• Minimal Variations: Common patterns like “qwerty” and repeated digits appear repeatedly, showing a lack of creativity in user-generated passwords.
• Complete Data Sets: The NordPass report provides full visibility into all 20 passwords, enabling comprehensive analysis and targeted user education.
• Facts: About 78% of the most common passwords globally (including those in the US list) can be cracked in under 1 second.

Distribution of Password Popularity

Examining the estimated counts across the top 10 entries illustrates how a handful of passwords account for the majority of exposures. The following bar chart depicts the gradient from the most to the least common within this subset ^[4]

Categorical Breakdown of Password Types

To better understand user behavior, passwords can be grouped by composition. The chart below shows the proportion of numeric-only, alphabetic, keyboard-pattern, and mixed/phrase entries among the top 20.

Regional and Security Implications

While NordPass’s global dataset provides a broad overview, regional analyses often mirror these trends, with the majority of users favoring brevity and familiarity over complexity. Cybersecurity experts warn that such predictable selections dramatically increase vulnerability to credential-stuffing attacks, particularly as automated tools improve in speed and sophistication.

• Awareness Campaigns: Educating users on the dangers of reuse and encouraging passphrases can mitigate risk.
• Multi-Factor Authentication: Implementing additional verification steps adds a critical layer of defense.
• Password Managers: Leveraging tools that generate and store unique passwords reduces human error.

A strong password is your first line of defense against hackers. According to NordPass’s 2024 report, millions of people still use weak passwords like “123456”, “password”, and “123456789”—all of which can be cracked in less than one second using automated tools. Shockingly, over 3 million accounts used “123456” alone. These passwords offer no real protection and are often the first combinations tested in cyberattacks.

NordPass Most Common Passwords by Country (2024)

• United States: The most common password is secret, used by over 328,000 people. While unique compared to global trends, it remains easily crackable in under 1 second.
• India: 123456 is the top choice with 363,000+ estimated uses. Its simplicity makes it highly vulnerable, cracked instantly despite India’s large digital population.
• United Kingdom: qwerty123 dominates with ~300,000 estimated uses. Though slightly more complex than 123456, it is still cracked in less than 1 second.
• Canada, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, and Lithuania also share qwerty123 as the top password, with combined usage exceeding 1.25 million. This cross-country trend suggests a regional reliance on keyboard-patterned passwords.
• Spain, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, and New Zealand all have 123456 as the most used password, with combined usage exceeding 1.9 million. This reflects a global reliance on ultra-simple numeric patterns.
• Germany’s top password passwort (the German word for “password”) is used by ~275,000 users, reflecting a language-based but still weak approach.
• France favors doudou (a term of endearment), indicating cultural personalization, but it’s still cracked instantly.
• Russia’s 1q2w3e and Poland’s zaq12wsx show regional keyboard patterns that offer marginal complexity but remain insecure.
• Ukraine stands out with PovlmLy727, appearing complex but still crackable instantly—likely due to predictable structure.
• Greece uses 212121 (repeating numbers), and Hungary uses long numeric strings like 63245009, both offering no real strength.
• Latvia, Estonia, and Denmark show attempts at mixing words and numbers (911yana777, D1lakiss, webhompass), though none survive even 1 second of cracking attempts.
• Iceland’s kassi (a common word) and Croatia’s dinamo (sports-related) reflect local vocabulary trends, but both lack complexity.
• Philippines has admin as its top password, a known default login credential—an alarming sign for personal and organizational security.
• Australia continues to use password, one of the oldest and weakest choices in password history, used by ~280,000 people.

Countries & Maximum Crack Time Observed in Their Top 200 Passwords (NordPass 2024)

• Over 90% of the top 200 passwords used in each country can be cracked in less than 1 second, showing widespread reliance on weak credentials.
• The United States has the longest maximum crack time at approximately 2 hours 20 minutes, with complex examples like P@ssw0rd!2023.
• The United Kingdom and Canada follow with maximum crack times exceeding 1 hour, indicating slightly stronger password habits.
• India’s longest crack time among its top 200 passwords is around 20 minutes, with examples like india@2023 and bharat#123. However, most Indian users still rely on simple numeric strings like 123456.
• Countries with the shortest maximum crack times include Croatia and the Philippines, where even the strongest common passwords are cracked in just 5 minutes.
• Stronger passwords typically include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
• Despite the presence of stronger passwords, the vast majority of users globally continue to use extremely weak ones, making accounts highly vulnerable.
• There is an urgent global need for better password practices, adoption of password managers, and the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA).

How to protect your password from hackers

To protect yourself, use a password that is at least 12 characters long, with a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special symbols. For example, a password like “T!mberWolf_92@Safe” would take over 1 trillion years to crack using current brute-force methods. Even better, use a passphrase—a string of unrelated words and symbols like “Sun$Track_Lion94”—which is easier to remember and harder to guess.

Also, always enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to add another layer of security. Never reuse passwords across accounts. Instead, use a password manager to create and store unique, complex passwords for each site.In summary, by avoiding predictable passwords and following simple best practices, you can make your password virtually uncrackable—even by the most advanced hackers.

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Conclusion

The persistence of easily compromised passwords in NordPass’s complete data set highlights an ongoing challenge for both individuals and organizations. Adopting robust password policies, combined with user-friendly security tools, is essential to counteract the allure of convenience-based but dangerously weak credentials.

References

1. Similarweb.com. (2025). June 2025 Global Ranking. Available at: https://similarweb.com/global-june2025 [Accessed 24 Jul. 2025].
2. Semrush.com. (2025). Website Analytics Report June 2025. Available at: https://semrush.com/reports/june2025 [Accessed 25 Jul. 2025].
3. NordPass.com. (2025). Top 20 Most Common Passwords. [online] Available at: https://nordpass.com/most-common-passwords/ [Accessed 21 Jul. 2025].
4. TechRepublic.com. (2025). How Fast Hackers Crack Your Passwords. [online] Available at: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/password-cracking-speeds/ [Accessed 23 Jul. 2025].

The Brains Behind AI: A Look at the World’s Top Supercomputers

AI is changing the world quickly! Powerful computers called supercomputers are needed to train the AI models that power things like chatbots and self-driving cars. Let’s see which supercomputers are the most powerful right now.

xAI’s Colossus Memphis Phase 2 is the champ! It has 200,000 special computer chips called H100 equivalents. This means it’s really, really fast! It can train a big AI model in just a short time. Other companies are building powerful supercomputers too, but some big players like Google and Amazon aren’t sharing as much information about their supercomputers.

Overview on GitHub

GitHub (a repository) is a cloud based service, a leading platform for developers, providing a wide range of tools and services. It allows developers to easily create, store, manage, and share their code with others. This platform fosters collaboration and productivity among developers, driving innovation in the field of computer science and beyond. In essence, GitHub simplifies the process of using Git for version control and collaboration, making it more accessible and efficient for both individuals and teams. GitHub’s user-friendly interface extends its utility beyond software development, with some individuals leveraging it to manage various projects, such as writing books. GitHub’s free signup option allows anyone to host a public code repository, making it particularly attractive for open-source projects and fostering a vibrant community of collaboration and innovation[3].

In this article, our focus will be on the global usage of GitHub among developers in their day-to-day activities. We’ll delve into the statistics and trends regarding the number of developers from different countries who rely on GitHub for writing, sharing, and storing their code. Additionally, we’ll explore how developers leverage GitHub to build and enhance their professional profiles, ultimately enhancing their prospects in the job market. By examining the geographical distribution of GitHub users and their usage patterns, we aim to provide insights into its role as a fundamental tool in the careers of developers worldwide.

Developers around the world

Based on above GitHub’s data, the worldwide developer community has exceeded 125 million members in 2023. Notably, the United States, India, and China constitute more than 39.12% of this total. This statistic underscores the substantial presence of software developers in these countries, reflecting their pivotal role in shaping the global technology ecosystem.

The number of developers worldwide has risen significantly, from over 105 million in 2022 to now exceeding 125 million in 2023. This growth suggests a steady increase in people joining the developer community. Additionally, there’s a growing popularity of programming languages like JavaScript, Python, Java, R, C/C++, C#, etc. This indicates a wider interest in software development and highlights the diverse range of tools developers use to create programs and applications.

Developers create their profiles on GitHub, where they showcase their coding projects and contributions. They often include their GitHub profile links on their resumes to demonstrate their skills to potential employers. This practice highlights the growing importance of technology in today’s job market, as more developers seek to showcase their abilities and stay connected with the global developer community.

India is known for producing a large number of skilled software engineers who are well-trained in various technologies and programming languages. These engineers are highly sought after by companies worldwide and play a significant role in advancing technology globally. Their expertise helps boost the technology sector in different countries, making a valuable contribution to innovation and development[4]. Next in line are China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Russia, each boasting substantial numbers of software developers. Specifically, they have 9.1+ million, 4.3+ million, 3.4+ million, and 3+ million software developers, respectively. It’s no surprise that the USA tops the charts on GitHub for having the largest number of developers worldwide. This is largely due to the fact that many major tech companies are headquartered in the USA, attracting a large pool of talented developers to the country.