Security researchers recently claimed that “Tiger” is the most common password relating to sports teams and mascots.
To coincide with the annual NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, Keeper Security published a bracket of some of most commonly used sports-related passwords. Among them, “Tiger” and its variations, such as “T1ger” and “T1g3r,” came out on top.
What’s the Most Common Password Related to Sports?
According to a press release, “Tiger” was 850 percent more common than “Bluejay,” the password that appeared least frequently. It was also 187 percent more common than “Eagle,” the runner-up for first place.
Some of the other credentials that appeared in Keeper Security’s bracket were “Bulldog,” “Gator, “Cardinal,” “Wildcat” and “Hurricane.”
Source: Keeper Security
To create this bracket, Keeper Security used a file of compromised credentials uncovered by security firm 4iQ that included 1.4 billion passwords, according to a 4iQ blog post. All of these credentials were in cleartext, meaning that anyone could easily access them.
A Call for Better Account Security
Darren Guccione, CEO and co-founder of Keeper Security, said his company’s bracket reflects the fact that users continue to opt for convenience over security when choosing a password.
“People often choose their passwords based on something they can easily remember,” explained Guccione. “But those are the easiest passwords for hackers to crack. Since most people reuse the same password more than 80 percent of the time, this can compromise consumers’ banking, retail and social media accounts.”
Attackers don’t even need to steal those credentials from improperly secured databases or buy them from underground marketplaces. They can simply brute-force their way into users’ accounts by building and deploying a password cracking tool.
While Keeper’s password bracket is all in good fun, it also illustrated the need for users to embrace better account security practices. They can do so by adopting authentication solutions such as biometrics and by following the recommendations of enterprise security teams. Most will advise users to avoid simple keystroke combinations, stay away from common dictionary words and create unique passwords for each account.