In fact, the most popular passwords this year are almost identical to the most popular ones from 2018.

That’s according to SplashData which has released its list of the top 100 worst passwords of 2019 and the usual suspects are cropping up again.

A few interesting options made the list – in at number 34 was the password ‘donald’ – but for the most part we still rely on simple numerical passwords.

Here’s the top 10 most common passwords of 2019:

123456
123456789
qwerty
password
1234567
12345678
12345
iloveyou
111111
123123
And, just for reference, here were the 10 most common passwords of 2018:

123456
password
123456789
12345678
12345
111111
1234567
sunshine
qwerty
iloveyou

It’s easy to understand why people want a simple password to remember easily, but we expect cyber security experts will be rolling their eyes in disbelief and the continued popularity of ‘123456’.

One of the simplest ways to make your digital life secure is to invest in a password manager which means you only have to remember one. The program will then generate long, complex passwords for each of your online accounts.

Additionally, many online accounts are now implementing two-factor authentication (2FA) which involves a login code being sent to your phone as an added layer of security.

A survey conducted earlier this year by the UK’s National Cyber Security (NCSC) found many British internet users did not know the best ways to protect themselves from cybercrime. Only 15% said they knew ‘a great deal’ about how to protect themselves from harmful activity online, while less than half said they always used a strong, separate password for their main email account.

NCSC technical director Dr Ian Levy said: ‘We understand that cybersecurity can feel daunting to a lot of people, but the National Cyber Security Centre has published lots of easily applicable advice to make you much less vulnerable.

‘Password re-use is a major risk that can be avoided – nobody should protect sensitive data with something that can be guessed, like their first name, local football team or favourite band.

‘Using hard-to-guess passwords is a strong first step and we recommend combining three random but memorable words. Be creative and use words memorable to you, so people can’t guess your password.’