SplashData recently released its annual list of the most-often-used passwords, and while it includes perennial favorites, there are some newcomers.

Users of these entries are the most likely to be future breach victims. And even with a number of high-profile hacking incidents at major sites including Yahoo, LinkedIn, eHarmony, and Last.fm, many folks continue to put themselves at risk using weak, easily guessable words.

The top three passwords, “password,” “123456,” and “12345678,” remain unchanged from last year’s list.

Newcomers to the list include “welcome,” “jesus,” “ninja,” “mustang,” and “password1.”

SplashData recommends these password security tips:

• Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters. One way to create longer, more secure passwords that are easy to remember is to use short words with spaces or other characters separating them. For example, “eat cake at 8!” or “car_park_city?”

• Avoid using the same username/password combo for multiple websites. Especially risky: using the same password for entertainment as for email, social networking, and financial services.

• Use different passwords for each new website or service.

• Having trouble remembering all those different passwords? Use a password manager app with a good track record or stash lists of codes (never all your codes in one list!) in a secure online site.

The post Forget these commonly used passwords appeared first on Finance Tech News.

Is your organization’s IT team making sure employees are aware of the common types of social network scams? If not, they should be warning users about:

Ur cute. Msg me – Scammers have been using sexual solicitation for years. Often, these messages include scandalous pictures.

Secret details about Michael Jackson’s death – Everyone likes gossip and celebrity details, but these links lead to malicious sites or will install malware on the user’s computer.

I’m trapped in Paris! Please send money – Known as the 419 scam, hackers tap into Facebook accounts and message friends asking them for money.

OMG! Did you see this picture of you? – Facebook and Twitter are notoriously known for scammers posting this on peoples’ walls. Messages that ask intriguing questions often lead to a fake log-in screen, which steals usernames and passwords.

Tweet for cash! – Avoid any variation of this message that offers ways to make money.

Protect your family from swine flu – To trap unsuspecting users, spammers will use concerning worldwide topics to reel people in.

Mike Smith commented on your wall post! Reading posts and comments from friends is one of the major Facebook features. However, users should be warned not to click on this application with names like “Your Photos” or “Post.” These notifications link users to a site called fucabook.com, send them to a pseudo Facebook page, and ask them  to log on. When they do, the site steals their log-in information, and then spams their friends.

Test your IQ – Facebook users take quirky quizzes all the time, so it’s no wonder that many are duped by these IQ tests. One recent IQ test caused users to unwittingly subscribe to a text message service that cost $30.00/month.

Join State University’s Class of 2013 Facebook group – Oftentimes these groups are not started by colleges, themselves. Beware.

Pass this information along to members of your company, or anyone you know so they can avoid spam, viruses and malware.

For more information on social media scams, click here.

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