Many passwords are easy prey for hackers

The website SplashData recently released its list of the most popular Internet passwords for 2012. Because these passwords are the most common, they're also the most vulnerable when it comes to digital security.

Topping the list was "password," which was also the most popular password in 2011 - "123456? was runner-up, followed by the slightly more inventive "12345678."

Other inspired entries included "qwerty," "monkey," "111111? and "password1." Here are the top 10 passwords and their positions relative to the 2011 rankings. The full list is available here.

1. password (Unchanged) 2, 123456 (Unchanged) 3. 12345678 (Unchanged) 4. abc123 (Up 1) 5. qwerty (Down 1) 6. monkey (Unchanged) 7. letmein (Up 1) 8. dragon (Up 2) 9. 111111 (Up 3) 10. baseball (Up 1)

SplashData, a Los Gatos, Calif., company that provides apps for passwords, digital photos and more, compiled the rankings from examining millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers.

High-profile websites that fell victim to such hacking last year included Yahoo, eHarmony and LinkedIn.

"Even though each year hacking tools get more sophisticated, thieves still tend to prefer easy targets," said SplashData CEO Morgan Slain in a statement. "Just a little bit more effort in choosing better passwords will go a long way toward making you safer online."

To ensure digital security, SplashData recommends such precautions as adding numerals and underscores to passwords, and selecting different passwords for different websites.