Without raising false alarms, it’s fair to say that password insecurity is a problem that lives near you and is worthy of your attention.

In its article, “139 password statistics to help you stay safe in 2023,” digital security firm Norton cites a report by password manager LastPass that more than 80% of confirmed breaches can be attributed to stolen, weak, or reused passwords. And while 91% of the people asked understood that it’s a security risk, more than 60% admitted to reusing passwords.

How bad can it get? The most commonly used password is “123456.” What could go wrong? It takes less than a second for a hacking tool to crack the most common passwords—that’s what. And it’s not getting better: 65% more passwords were compromised in 2022 than in 2020.

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