'123456' or 'Rocky': where will passwords go in 2023?

Passwords may stay but Passkeys, twofactor authentication will be the way forward for many users

- Nitin Sreedhar

Let's start with a pop culture reference. In the 2019 movie Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is trying to locate his friends via Instagram. He asks Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), head of security at Stark Industries, for his smartphone to access the app.

Peter Parker: What's your password?

Happy Hogan: Password.

Parker: No, what is your password?

Hogan: Password. The word spelled out.

Parker: You're head of security and your password is "password"?

Hogan: I don't feel good about it either.

Happy Hogan isn't the only one setting weak passwords. The 2022 Weak Password Report by password management vendor Specops Software, which was compiled through proprietary surveys and data analysis of 800 million breached passwords globally, found that people turn to seasons (yes, summer, winter and autumn), musicians, sports teams, movies (Rocky was No.1 on the list, Spiderman was No.11) and TV shows when choosing and building passwords. So, just how vulnerable will passwords be in 2023?

PASSWORD-LESS FUTURE?