What do Canada’s most-used passwords tell about Canadians? Maybe you had better ask Tiffany.

What is the most common password in Canada? You might be surprised to know that it’s not “password”. In fact, “123456” beats out password by a notch, according to this study by Nordpass.

What is interesting, though, is that using “password” as a password is a somewhat Canadian thing, as it ranks fourth elsewhere in the world. The list of top 50 Canadian passwords is below, and some of them are perplexing.

To be sure, the first seven make sense, and are pretty much what you might expect – various versions of qwerty, 123s and ABCs. But then we hit #8: Tiffany.

Tiffany?

Why is Tiffany a common password? Who is this Tiffany that so many Canadians use as a password? It is weird enough that “Michael” ranks #22 on the US list of passwords. But Michael is a pretty common name, and it is only at #22. But Tiffany at #8?

Tiffany doesn’t even rank in the top 100 in the US. Could it be that Americans are more rational than Canadians?

At the 11th, 13th and 15th place, we find the three passwords that probably define Canada best in Password Land: hockey, iloveyou and canada. Hockey and Canada don’t even rank in the US – imagine that! – and “iloveyou ranks one higher in the US than in Canada. And do you know whose fault that is?

Tiffany’s!

That’s right. If Tiffany didn’t rank up at #8, Canada and the US would be tied for “iloveyou”.

By #20, we’re pretty much into single words for passwords. Sunshine. Dragon. Shadow. Soccer. All the things that occupy our minds most in daily life.

And then we get to #23. This is a family blog, so I won’t say that one out loud. You can, though, if you wish. If all these passwords are driving you crazy, feel free to say it out REALLY LOUD.

In fairness, our #23 is the American’s #30. Could it be that Americans are just more polite than Canadians?

More single words, some numbers…and then a “killer”. What is it with you people? Does Canada have so many killers that we need to identify ourselves in passwords? And at #31? “Killer” doesn’t show up in US rankings until #110. Could it be that Americans are less violent than Canadians?

Oh, and then we have Maggie at #32. Hello Maggie. Did you know that Tiffany ranks #8? Clearly she’s more popular than you.

OK, can anybody tell me who Maggie is?

Michael is at #35 on Canada’s list. At #22, Americans clearly like him better.

At this point, a lot of the passwords on the list start becoming people’s names. Who uses their own name for a password? Ah…oh, I see. Maybe people don’t use their own name. Maybe they use names they think nobody ever heard of. Maybe that’s why I have no idea who Tiffany and Maggie are.

My favourite password is #37. That’s a bouncey, trouncey, ouncey, pouncey, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun password.

Once you’ve looked at the list, do you notice anything missing? Anything very, very, very conspicuously missing? In fact, two things are shockingly missing?

First, no capital letters.

Second, no symbols.

When was the last time you were able to create a password without being told:

“Your password must include a minimum of one special character, such as ~`!@#$%^&*()-_+={}[]|\;:”<>,./?.”

Or:

“Your password must include at least 1 upper case letter.”

You know, as in “Tiffany” or “Maggie”, not “tiffany” or “maggie”?

Top 50 Canadian passwords

1. 123456
2. password
3. 123456789
4. 12345
5. 12345678
6. qwerty
7. abc123
8. tiffany
9. password1
10. testing
11. hockey
12. 1234567
13. iloveyou
14. 1234
15. canada
16. 1234567890
17. 111111
18. sunshine
19. 123123
20. dragon
21. shadow
22. soccer
23. fuckyou
24. monkey
25. princess
26. superman
27. summer
28. 654321
29. charlie
30. 1q2w3e4r
31. killer
32. maggie
33. whatever
34. pokemon
35. michael
36. computer
37. tigger
38. 123abc
39. qwerty123
40. matthew
41. bailey
42. 1qaz2wsx
43. 696969
44. qwertyuiop
45. michelle
46. andrew
47. 666666
48. 123qwe
49. jennifer
50. william

Tips to create a secure Canadian password

The purpose of this study wasn’t to crown Tiffany princess of Canada (in which case she would get a second entry at #25). The purpose would be to show how insecure the most popular passwords are.

For instance, every one of the top 34 Canadian passwords can be cracked in under a second. Under a second!

There is one exception. It’s not “maggie”. It’s not the one you want to shout out loud. Believe it or not, it’s – are you holding on to your chair? – it’s “tiffany”. Yes, it takes 17 minutes to crack Tiffany. This lady just doesn’t crack under pressure.

And that, I presume, is why Tiffany is a common password in Canada.

OK, before you all change your passwords to “tiffany”, you might want to create truly Canadian passwords that meet the requirements of most password fields.

Here are a few ideas:

• TifEh?fany11
• TifthePeg!fany2
• TifP0UTINE!fany
• Tif5R@nkinsfany
• Tif[Tarana]fany9
• TifCeline-Dionfany33
• TifS0RRY!fny
• Prairie-Tiffany-0yster
• Tif-Inuksuk1-fany

If Tiffany takes 17 minutes to crack, how much more secure would a password be with Eh? or thePeg! tucked into the middle of her name? And how much more Canadian! I mean, have those offshore hackers even heard of the Peg?

Feel free to share your thoughts on Canadian passwords below. But, please don’t share your actual password…even if you are Tiffany.