If 'Blink182' is your password, the British government says you should probably 'change it immediately'

Ashley Collman

April 23, 2019 7:35 PM

On Sunday, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre released a list of 100,000 common passwords that users should avoid using.

blink 182

On that list is "Blink182," a reference to the American rock band.
The NCSC says its important not to use any of the passwords on the list because hackers know they are common and often try them when conducting data breaches.
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Pop punk fans be warned: If you thought "Blink182" was a clever idea for your online banking password, the British government has some tough news for you.

On Sunday, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) released a list of the top 100,000 website passwords that have been commonly found in data breaches.

Among those common passwords is "Blink182," a reference to the American pop punk band Blink-182. The password is likely popular due to the fact it contains both numbers and an uppercase letter, as many password systems require. But its popularity actually makes it a particularly weak password.

Hackers often use lists of common passwords to try to break into websites to steal data.

The NCSC says that if you see your password on the list, "you should change it immediately."

The British government worked to put out the list with the help of Australian cyber-security expert Troy Hunt, who started the "Have I Been Pwned?" website which allows users to see if their data was compromised in a breach.

While operating the website, Hunt found that the password "123456" had been used 23 million times in breaches.

"You might think that choosing a more complex password such as 'oreocookie' is better, but even that has been seen over 3,000 times," the NCSC said.

Other popular passwords on the list include: "sk8erboi," "pa$word," "high420," "boyssuck," and "tupacshakur."