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Poll: Do you have secure online passwords?

A study shows that many Irish people use easily-hackable media and pop culture phrases.

A STUDY BEING highlighted today shows people in Ireland often use well-known pop culture terms and phrases as well as the names of favourite brands, broadcasters and TV shows as their online passwords. 

Terms like ‘barrystea’, ‘fatherted’, ‘glenroe’ and ‘joeduffy’ all cropped up on the list – as did the likes of the ever popular ‘riverdance’ and superhoofer Michael Flatley’s ‘lordofthedance’. 

“Avoid easily recognisable phrases,” Dr Hazel Murray from Cyber Skills commented as part of an awareness campaign. “Glenroe finished over 20 years ago on TV yet it’s been used nearly 90 times in the hacked password database.”

Today we’re asking: Are you happy you have a secure password? 


Poll Results:

Yes (4006)
Well holy God, I thought I did until I read this poll (834)
No (744)
Flatley, I've no interest in this subject (307)

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45 Comments
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    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Willie Murphy
    Favourite Willie Murphy
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:12 AM

    My passwords are so secure, even I can’t get into them…

    242
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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
    Favourite Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 1:20 PM

    @Willie Murphy: As long as you can get into your email you can hit the “forgot password” button
    Of course anyone who can access your email can do this. It’s a single point of failure for many passwords.

    20
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    Mute Sean Sean
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    Oct 24th 2023, 1:42 PM

    @Willie Murphy: Déan as Gaeilge é! Simplí

    25
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    Mute Kevin Collins
    Favourite Kevin Collins
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:31 AM

    Tomorrow’s poll: What is your mother’s maiden name, the street you grew up on and your first childhood pet?

    171
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    Mute KTH
    Favourite KTH
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:32 AM

    All my passwords are “incorrect” so when I enter anything I get this reminder…
    “Your password is incorrect”.

    73
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    Mute Marie B
    Favourite Marie B
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:33 AM

    @KTH: very handy

    22
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    Mute SerotoninWars
    Favourite SerotoninWars
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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:27 PM

    You can be safer but nothing is truly safe. If it’s online, it’s hackable by someone. There are multiple governments who can fly past any of your security measures if they really want to. And let’s face it huge numbers of us have already given over more than enough information to be compromised in some way. Endless photos, life details, locations, likes, preferences, social circles etc.

    After the supposedly secure messaging service all the criminals were using was hacked by the authorities, it’s not so much whether your information is safe as opposed to whether anyone with power can be bothered hacking you.

    I’m sure plenty have already received dodgy emails after something they signed up to years ago was hacked, and some of your data leaked.

    Privacy is practically non-existent now anyway. From CCTV to people filming on their phones, there’s barely anywhere you can escape the surveillance.

    37
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    Mute Philip Gallagher
    Favourite Philip Gallagher
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    Oct 24th 2023, 2:33 PM

    You can’t use Irish Stew as a password.
    It’s not Stroganoff.
    I know it’s an old one

    23
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    Mute mel finn
    Favourite mel finn
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:17 AM

    Yes mine is very secure, it’s flatulence123

    22
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    Mute Thomas Meaney
    Favourite Thomas Meaney
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:22 AM

    @mel finn: something smells fishy about that password. You need to change it.

    24
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    Mute Patrick MC Dermott
    Favourite Patrick MC Dermott
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:31 AM

    @mel finn: Flatulence is not very secure. You’re talking a lot of hot air.

    23
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    Mute Niamh
    Favourite Niamh
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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:32 PM

    Passwords won’t keep anyone working at Google from snooping through your emails. Happened to me.

    15
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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
    Favourite Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:35 PM

    @Niamh: Not using Google for email will.

    9
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    Mute Niamh
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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:37 PM

    @Steve O’Hara Smith.: I changed to AOL

    3
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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
    Favourite Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:50 PM

    @Niamh: For real security host your own email service (assuming you have broadband). There’s a learning curve but the result is much better privacy.
    To get to my email you first have to get into my home network (I run a VPN for when I’m away) it’s not visible directly on the Internet except to receive incoming mail.

    10
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    Mute Niamh
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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:56 PM

    @Steve O’Hara Smith.: I didn’t know I could do that! Thanks for the tip :)

    7
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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
    Favourite Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 1:00 PM

    @Niamh: Fair warning, I meant it about the learning curve. It’s not as easy today as it was in 1993 when I first did it.

    6
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    Mute
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    Oct 24th 2023, 2:02 PM

    @Niamh: who was snooping through your emails? An ex?

    3
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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
    Favourite Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:29 PM

    Song lyrics are a great source of easy to remember passwords. Just add a standard prefix or suffix with the capitals, numbers and special characters.

    14
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    Mute Alan Kennedy
    Favourite Alan Kennedy
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    Oct 24th 2023, 4:03 PM

    @Steve O’Hara Smith.: no no, no, no, no no, no, no, no no, no, no, there’s no limit!

    11
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    Mute F Fitzgerald
    Favourite F Fitzgerald
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    Oct 24th 2023, 7:17 PM

    @Steve O’Hara Smith.: Works fine as long as no one sits there humming their tune ;-)

    2
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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 7:36 PM

    @F Fitzgerald: You can find my list of sites and songs and you still won’t know the prefix/suffix or know how much of which part of the song I’ve used let alone which words I’ve misheard (excuse me while I kiss this guy).

    2
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    Mute peter browne
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:32 AM

    Considering they are compiling the most popular ones and printing them how would they be secure?

    11
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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
    Favourite Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 1:10 PM

    @peter browne: In the late 1970s someone in my universities computer lab (in those days a mostly male environment) found over 80% of the student passwords, using a book popular with new parents, and posted the list on the department noticeboard.
    The book – “500 Names for Girls”.

    7
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    Mute Paul whitehead
    Favourite Paul whitehead
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    Oct 24th 2023, 1:03 PM

    Yes.. I always use my dogs name. Rocky. And his age. 11. They would never guess that.

    11
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    Mute
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:41 AM

    Stick this pole up ye jaxie gicker

    14
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    Mute Luke Vic101
    Favourite Luke Vic101
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:28 PM

    Is that your password?
    5t1ck.th15.p0l3.up.y3.jax1e.g1ck3r

    2
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    Mute Corey Dalton
    Favourite Corey Dalton
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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:51 PM

    My two favourite passwords are “123” and “password”.

    8
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    Mute Magnificent Mongoose
    Favourite Magnificent Mongoose
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:09 AM

    I let Last Pass create a password for me.

    8
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    Mute David Ronan
    Favourite David Ronan
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:56 AM

    @Magnificent Mongoose: LastPass had a major breach last year exposing millions of vault master passwords, so you’re not as secure as you think you are.

    23
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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
    Favourite Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:51 PM

    @David Ronan: Yep two people can keep a secret – if one of them is dead.

    10
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    Mute Magnificent Mongoose
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    Oct 24th 2023, 8:29 PM

    @David Ronan: I never claimed to be secure

    1
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    Mute
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    Oct 24th 2023, 2:42 PM

    MndYreoinb1zness

    8
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    Mute David O Brien
    Favourite David O Brien
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    Oct 24th 2023, 1:12 PM

    Couldn’t tell ya I’m locked out.

    7
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    Mute Butters
    Favourite Butters
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    Oct 24th 2023, 2:28 PM

    I tend to use house phone numbers I had to commit to memory as a kid. 9/10 digits in a random order would be near impossible for anyone to figure out, theres at least 1000 different combinations I think. that’s my thought process on the matter anyway.

    5
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    Mute Larry Betts
    Favourite Larry Betts
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    Oct 24th 2023, 4:32 PM

    I tried to create a new password,using a mixture of uppercase,lowercase,a number and a symbol. I put in Beefstew9% “sorry,your password is not stroganoff”

    5
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    Mute Colette Walsh
    Favourite Colette Walsh
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    Oct 24th 2023, 1:21 PM

    Just make it too difficult for normal privacy. If the bad guys want to get to you they will. You’re unlikely to be that important to them.

    5
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    Mute Steve O'Hara Smith.
    Favourite Steve O'Hara Smith.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 3:29 PM

    Also never share your passwords! With anyone!
    A bad breakup I know of was made much worse when one ex-partner used their knowledge of the other’s passwords to wreck their Facebook profile, delete all their contacts and change both Facebook and email passwords so they were locked out of their accounts.

    2
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    Mute James K.
    Favourite James K.
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:28 PM

    I change passwords every few months and try not to use the same password on multiple sites, I have a gmail account because, y’know, Android, but use a different account for everything else. I don’t stay logged in on sites and log out when I’m finished and I wipe my browser history at least once a week

    2
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    Mute Morrissey Michael
    Favourite Morrissey Michael
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    Oct 24th 2023, 3:33 PM

    Hope the Sharks get a chance to view the final after the match against Leinster on Saturday evening

    1
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    Mute F Fitzgerald
    Favourite F Fitzgerald
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    Oct 24th 2023, 7:18 PM

    @Morrissey Michael: Clever, but it’s a bit long to be memorable.

    1
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    Mute Alan Scott
    Favourite Alan Scott
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    Oct 24th 2023, 3:33 PM

    Ring of steel

    1
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    Mute Ate “8 Waved Sun” Waved Sun
    Favourite Ate “8 Waved Sun” Waved Sun
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    Oct 25th 2023, 12:07 PM

    Long password phrases like heymynameisnonofyoyrbusinessbudfy is a trillion plus times harder to crack than F()&;3jit as it’s the length of the password and not the character style.

    1
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    Mute Aidan C
    Favourite Aidan C
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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:48 PM

    Mine is really good
    12345!pw
    See?

    1
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    Mute Kieran Menon
    Favourite Kieran Menon
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    Oct 24th 2023, 9:08 PM

    I got far too many accounts with random gibberish for their passwords… I just use Dashlane to manage it all.

    1
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