Passwords are essential in the modern digital age. Initially you needed just one or two to manage your online accounts.
Today, with so many processes completed online, you need a dozen or more passwords.
Every online account holds your personal information, meaning it needs to be protected.
However, you’re human, it’s impossible to remember every password, especially when the average internet user has 100 or more passwords.
It’s not surprising that many people reuse passwords and choose ones that are easy to remember.
Unfortunately, hackers know this and can break an easy password in minutes, sometimes even in seconds.
Of course, most people believe that they won’t be a victim of hacking, there are much bigger and better targets.
The truth is, hackers will target anyone and, when you see the following password hacking statistics, you’ll realize that you need to pick stronger passwords immediately.
Key Statistics
Take a look at the top password hacking statistics in 2025. It’s truly terrifying!
- 30% of internet users have lost data due to a weak password
- An impressive 66% of US Citizens re-use the same password across several accounts
- 59% of Americans include birthdays or names in their passwords
- Unsurprisingly, 75% of Americans find tracking passwords frustrating
- 25% of people have used one of the most common passwords
- 43% of people share a password with someone
- Just 45% of people change a password after a data breach
- 12 character passwords take 62 trillion times longer to hack than passwords half the length
- 81% of data breaches are due to weak passwords
- 87% of it professionals think no passwords are the future
- 37% of people use their employer’s name
Top Password Hacking Statistics in 2025
1. 30% Of Internet Users Have Lost data Due To A Weak Password
A weak password can be easily guessed or hacked with software.
In many cases hackers can use social engineering to work out what the password is and then simply log into someone’s account.
Hackers have a variety of techniques at their disposal. Weak passwords can usually be hacked in a few minutes with credential stuffing.
The Goodfirms survey found that 30% of respondents had suffered a data breach and had weak passwords.
Worryingly, all survey respondents were IT professionals!
(Goodfirms)
2. An Impressive 66% Of US Citizens Re-use The Same Password Across Several Accounts
One of the worst things you can do with a password is use it on more than one account. Naturally, it’s easier to remember this way.
However, it also means that should a hacker work out your password they can access multiple accounts. That maximizes the damage they can do to your life!
Despite this, the 2019 Harris Poll found 66% of respondents used the same password on multiple accounts.
It also revealed that 34% of people keep a paper record of their passwords and 66% of respondents rarely change their passwords.
This statistic is backed up by Microsoft who discovered in 2019 that 44 billion accounts were found to be reusing passwords.
A separate Google poll revealed that 13% of adults use the same password on all their accounts.
(Harris Poll)
3. 59% Of Americans Include Birthdays Or Names In Their Passwords
Educating people to prevent them from using the most common passwords or the same passwords across multiple accounts is only an effective solution if people stop using weak passwords.
A recent survey by Mozilla found that 59% of users used either their birth date or their name in the password. To a hacker you may as well have no password.
The survey showed almost 400,000 passwords using the name ‘Joshua’ and 141,000 with ‘Isabella’!
(Mozilla)
4. Unsurprisingly, 75% Of Americans Find Tracking Passwords Frustrating
It’s estimated that 75% of Americans are frustrated at having to keep track of so many different passwords.
This statistic is similar across the globe and with good reason. It’s difficult or impossible to remember a dozen passwords.
When you want to get into an account you generally want to do it as fast as possible, having to work out which password you need to use is frustrating.
(Google Survey)
5. 25% of People Have Used One Of The Most Common Passwords
The golden rule when choosing a password is to avoid any of the most common ones. It’s because these are the first ones that a hacker will try.
If you’re wondering why they try, then consider the fact that 25% of people surveyed by Google are using or have used one of the most common passwords.
In short, a hacker has a one-in-four chance of gaining access to any account simply by trying the most common passwords.
You don’t even need to be a hacker to gain access when people use common passwords.
The Google survey showed that 17% of respondents had correctly guessed someone’s password in the past, just because it was a common one.
The most common passwords which you should avoid are:
- Password
- 123456
- Qwerty
- Admin
- Welcome
- 123456789
- 111111
If you’re using one of the above, change it immediately.
(Google Survey)
Google recently conducted a survey into how many people share their passwords.
Surprisingly, 43% of people admitted to having shared their password even though you are not supposed to share it with anyone.
Interestingly, 53% of those that shared a password shared it with a loved one. This is slightly more understandable.
However, further questions discovered that just 11% of those that had shared their password changed it after they broke up with the loved one!
Approximately 10% of people have still got a password from a previous roommate or colleague!
In short, people are very careless regarding who has their password.
(Google Survey)
7. Just 45% Of People Change A Password After A Data Breach
If you’ve ever experienced a data breach you’ll understand how frightening and isolating an experience it can be.
Simply knowing someone else has access to all your private files and personal information will send chills down your spine.
Despite what can be done by hackers, only 45% of people surveyed said they would change their password after a data breach.
What will really surprise and shock you is that 47% of people surveyed had lost money due to a data breach, yet some of them still wouldn’t change their password!
(Google Survey)
8. 12 Character Passwords Take 62 Trillion Times Longer To Hack Than Passwords Half The Length
The stronger a password is the harder it is to hack it and then access your accounts. That’s why people recommend you choose random characters.
Increasing the length of a password can even help if you are using familiar names and dates.
Put simply, a 12 character password has been found to take 62 trillion times longer to hack than a six character one.
It’s a numbers game and the number of possible combinations increases dramatically when you go from six to twelve characters.
To help you understand how much safer this is, a six character password can be hacked in one second.
The corresponding 12 character password would take two million years to hack. Most hackers don’t have that much time to spare.
(Scientific American)
9. 81% Of Data Breaches Are Due To Weak Passwords
If you want a reason to make your password stronger then consider this. 81% of data breaches happen because weak passwords have been used.
In short, most data breaches are a result of poor passwords. Protecting yourself from a data breach is as simple as increasing the strength of your password.
(Verizon Survey 2021)
10. 87% Of IT professionals Think No Passwords Are the Future
Approximately 80% of businesses use passwords, leaving the door open to weak passwords and data breaches.
Yet, 87% of IT professionals acknowledge that a password-less system is the future.
The technology already exists, it can be done via SMS authentication codes, fingerprints, and even facial recognition.
These approaches are much more difficult to hack and you don’t need to remember an array of passwords.
(Teleport)
11. 37% Of People Use Their Employer’s Name
A recent survey showed that 37% of people use the business name or employer’s name in their work passwords.
In other words, the passwords couldn’t be easier to hack!
Those that don’t consist of 34% using a loved one’s name and 31% using either their own name or date of birth.
This information is relatively easy to work out, making work email accounts some of the most unsecure parts of any network.
Worse, many of these people use the same passwords for personal accounts and their work accounts.
(Keeper Security)
How To Reduce The Risk Of Password Hacking
Once you realize how easy it is for a hacker to gain access to your accounts and files, it’s time to take steps to strengthen your password:
Choose Strong Passwords
The first step is to change all your passwords. Choose ones that are at least 12 characters long, use upper and lowercase letters, at least one number, and one special character.
As shown by the statistics, they are significantly harder to hack and will help to keep your information safe.
Keep Passwords Unique
When choosing a password you should avoid using anything familiar to you. That means family names, pet names, and dates of birth should be avoided.
Each password should be unique in that it is different from the others you use. In addition, it is best to use randomly generated characters.
This makes it highly unlikely your password will be hacked, because there is no obvious link to you.
Change Them Regularly
No matter how strong your passwords are, you should change them regularly. Provided you haven’t suffered a breach, change your passwords every three-to-six months.
Of course, if you have suffered a breach then change them as soon as you find out about the breach.
You can just change the account that has been breached, but you may prefer to change all of them.
Consider Using A Password Generator
Naturally, the stronger and more varied/unique the password the harder it will be to remember it.
When you have a dozen or more passwords it will become virtually impossible to remember.
The best option is to use one of the reputable password managers on the market.
These are encrypted databases which store a list of your account, username, and password. All you have to do is access the password manager to find the appropriate password.
That means you need to learn one strong random password and the rest will be safely locked away for you to use as and when you need to.
Summing Up
One thing that should stand out from these password hacking statistics, is that anyone can be hacked and most people are making it very easy to be a victim.
The best thing you can do is review and change all your passwords today.
You need to ensure all passwords are strong.
You can generate these yourself, but the most effective approach is to use a password manager combined with a password generator tool.
There are plenty to choose from but you can’t go wrong with NordPass or RoboForm.
You won’t be alone. Approximately 45 million Americans use password managers.
Of these, 50% say security concerns prompted them to start using the manager.
All you need to do is remember one password and, because all the data is encrypted, your accounts will be safe.
It is still advisable to change passwords often.