Everyone uses passwords to protect their important and confidential information.
However, most people are unaware of how insecure their passwords are, compromising their accounts and exposing them to hackers.
Password statistics provide valuable insight into the security of your online accounts. They can help you understand how often people are choosing weak passwords, and how often strong passwords are being used.
Knowing this information can help you make better decisions about how to protect your accounts, and also provide a baseline for tracking your organization’s password security over time.
Before diving into the full list, here are our top 5 password statistics in 2024.
Top Password Statistics 2024
- “123456” is the most commonly used password.
- A data breach because of a weak password is experienced by around 30% of internet users.
- 59% of adults in the US use either their names or birthdays in their passwords.
- Approximately two-thirds of Americans use the same password across multiple accounts.
- Around 13% of Americans use the exact same password for every account.
Here are a few interesting facts to inspire you to use better security practices.
General Password Statistics and Facts 2024
- The average password length is 8 characters.
- Most people have an average of 38.4 passwords that they use for different accounts.
- But the same password is used, on average, by 5 accounts at one time.
- 30% of people don’t lock their smartphones because they hate entering a password.
- Passwords with 12 characters or longer are 62 trillion times stronger than 6-character passwords.
- 73% of people reset at least one password every 90 days because they forgot what the password was.
- 3 out of every 4 people find managing their passwords annoying and frustrating.
Password Hacking Statistics 2024
- 90% of users a concerned that their passwords can be hacked at any time.
- For hackers, it only takes 10 minutes to figure out a 6-character password.
- 80% of breached accounts are the result of password hacking.
- 40% of people have been hacked because they used a duplicate password.
- More than half of people who have been hacked still don’t change their passwords after.
- 47% of Americans have lost money as a result of an online phishing scam.
- 27% of people admit to trying to hack into someone’s account by guessing their password.
Password Security Statistics 2024
- 51% of people use the same password for their work and personal accounts.
- More than 60% of people never update their passwords.
- 43% of people in the US share their passwords with others (more than half share them with their partners).
- Two-factor (or multi-factor) authentication can protect against 99% of common password security issues.
- Over ⅓ of Americans use the same password for multiple accounts online.
- At work, employees use the same password 13 times on average.
- 93% of people say their bank and financial information is the one thing they want to protect.
Business Password Statistics 2024
- Only 15% of companies require that their employees use multi-factor authentication to protect their accounts.
- Almost 70% of employees have shared a private password with another employee.
- 42% of employees use sticky notes to keep track of their passwords.
- Employees are allowed to use their personal phones for office-related work in 55% of all businesses.
- 37% of employers use the company name somewhere in their password.
Interesting Password Statistics and Facts 2024
- Nearly ¼ of all Americans use a generic password like “password,” “123456,” or “Qwerty.”
- The password “123456” is used by over 23 million people for at least one account online.
- 53% of people only use their memory (instead of a password manager) to remember their login information.
- The most common names used in passwords are “Eva” and “Alex.”
- 1.9% of passwords contain a food or beverage product.
- 15% of people use their first name in their password.
You might be interested to check those related posts as well:
- 22 Cool Data Privacy Stats 2024 [Protect Your Private Info]
- 28 Leadership Stats 2024 [about Business and the Workplace]
- Top 10 [2023] Website Security Tools You Must Know
FAQ
How often are passwords hacked?
Roughly 40% of Americans have had their accounts compromised at least once (47% of those who have lost money as a result of the hack).
Businesses are also susceptible to phishing scams – 51% have said they’ve been hacked in the past. You can strengthen your password by using 2FA or MFA and by creating a password longer than 12 characters.
How many people have an insecure password?
80% of people have had their accounts compromised due to a weak password. Not only are passwords commonly reused, but they’re often short and easy to guess. And if asked to change their password, 49% of people will only change one letter or digit.
What are the 10 most common passwords?
8 out of the top 10 most common passwords are only numerical digits (qwerty and password are the only two alphabetical passwords to make a list).
Over 103 million people use “123456”, making it the most common password in the world. With a weak password, hackers can crack into your account in under one second.
Conclusion
Although it’s convenient to choose or reuse an easy password, you open yourself up to potential hackers and scammers.
But by using a strong password and secure MFA, you can protect yourself and your data without worrying about an account breach.
Sources:
- Hosting Tribunal
- Data Prot
- Business Wire
- Schneider Downs
- Secure Frame
- Panda Security
