The science behind hacking passwords has evolved much faster than the passwords themselves. While many websites and programs set limits on password-attempts that make brute-force attacks impossible, there are plenty of sites that do not. With many people using the same password for multiple sites and profiles, they don't necessarily have to hack everything. They just need to find the weakest link.

The cartoon above by XKCD brilliantly and simply explains why long passwords with common random words are much more effective than the standard 1 capital letter, 1 number, 1 symbol, 8-12 character-long password. Below, we take a look at the most common passwords used. Moral of the story - don't be dumb but don't outsmart yourself.

Click to either the cartoon or the infographic to enlarge. Pinterest