Come On, Are You Still Using BinDay123 as Your Password?

If so, you are not alone. Insurance sector’s employees, working for the world’s richest companies, use very poor passwords to secure business accounts, reveals new research by NordPass. While cybersecurity experts repeatedly urge businesses to take better care of corporate accounts, passwords such as “password” and “123456” still make it to the insurance industry’s list.

Below are the 10 most used passwords in the insurance sector.

1. password
2. 123456
3. company’s email domain. com*
4. aaron431
5. company name’s abbreviation123*
6. company name745*
7. part of the company’s name*
8. company’s email domain. com*
9. mail2007
10. company name*

*This password is directly referencing a company. NordPass is not naming the exact business. It notes the format in which this password was used, for example, the abbreviation of the company’s name, part of the name, or the name combined with other words or symbols.

Although NordPass looks at the change in internet users’ password habits year-round, this year, the company specifically investigated passwords that employees of the world’s biggest companies from 31 countries use to secure business accounts. The researchers compiled 20 industry-specific passwords lists.

“On one hand, it is a paradox that the wealthiest companies on the planet with financial resources to invest in cybersecurity fall into the poor password trap. On the other hand, it is only natural because internet users have deep-rooted unhealthy password habits. This research once again proves that we should all speed up in transitioning to alternative online authentication solutions,” says Jonas Karklys, CEO of NordPass.

“Ashley” and other questionable passwords

According to the study, the passwords “password” and “123456,” which shared the top two spots in last year’s list of the world’s most common passwords, are also popular among the largest companies’ employees. Across all 20 analyzed industries, both of these passwords were found to be among the seven most commonly used passwords. The word “password” was the number 1 most trending pick among the insurance sector’s employees and “123456” ranked 2nd.

Interestingly, people working for corporations in the insurance field extensively used names for their passwords, with “aaron431” and “ashley” among the most popular picks. Other industries were also creative. The password “dummies” ranks 6th among consumer goods sector employees, “sexy4sho” – 16th among real estate employees, and “snowman” – 11th in the energy field.

Common inspiration for passwords

Just like with regular internet users, dictionary words, names of people and countries, and simple combinations of numbers, letters, and symbols make up most passwords presented in the research.

However, the remaining 32% indicate another interesting trend. The world’s wealthiest companies’ employees love passwords that directly reference or hint at the name of a specific company. The full company name, the company’s email domain, part of the company’s name, an abbreviation of the company name, and the company product or subsidiary name are common sources of inspiration.

“These types of passwords are both poor and dangerous to use. When breaking into company accounts, hackers try all the password combinations referencing a company because they are aware of how common they are. Employees often avoid creating complicated passwords, especially for shared accounts. Therefore, they end up choosing something as basic as the company’s name,” says Karklys.

Wide representation of countries and industries

The analysis of the world’s wealthiest companies’ passwords was conducted in partnership with independent third-party researchers specializing in research on cybersecurity incidents. They looked into the world’s 500 largest companies by their market capitalization, which represented 31 countries and 20 industries.

The United States (46.2%), China (9.6%), Japan (5.8%), India (4.2%), the United Kingdom (4%), France (3.8%), and Canada (3.6%) are the countries most represented in this research. Also, most of the companies analyzed fell under the finance, technology and IT, and health care sectors.

Various progressive businesses such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, PayPal, KAYAK, and eBay have already adopted passkey technology and are offering their users passwordless login. Therefore, NordPass has developed a solution to store clients’ passkeys and is developing a tool for businesses to easily integrate passkey support to their websites.