The most used password in 2025 remains “123456”, despite years of security warnings

The 123456 of a lifetime…

According to NordPass, one in four most used passwords is made up of numbers only which facilitates brute force attacks and unauthorized access. “The habit of using predictable passwords transcends ages: both young digital natives and older adults repeat the same mistakes,” said Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, head of the ESET Latin America Research Laboratory.

The problem is particularly serious in Latin America, where the lack of cybersecurity culture coincides with a sustained increase in digital threats. ESET warns that this behavior not only compromises personal security, but also contributes to increasing regional vulnerability to massive attacks.

The corporate sphere is not immune to this trend either. Simple numerical codes also dominate among employees of companies in sectors such as health, education and technology. According to ESET, a cybercriminal can crack many of these passwords in less than a secondand Verizon estimates that 70% of company breaches are due to the use of weak credentials.

Even emblematic institutions have been victims of poor practices: the Louvre of Paris suffered an intrusion this year after its security system used the password “Louvre,” allowing the theft of jewelry valued at more than $100 million.

ESET recommends using password managers and creating long, complex, random and different keys for each service as basic measures to reduce risks.