Get the dunce's cap - experts warn pathetically weak passwords in the education sector leave classrooms at risk

• Schools are being left exposed by weak passwords within their organization
• Hackers are increasingly targeting education institutions
• '123456' and 'password' are both in the top 5 of most used passwords in education

Universities, schools, and training centres are being left vulnerable by an endemic of weak passwords in the education industry, new research from NordVPN shows.

The company's analysis reveals educational institutions fall short by choosing easy to remember (but easy to guess) passwords - outlining the top 20 most reused passwords in the education sector, and finding, with 1,233,447 observed uses is ‘123456’, followed closely by ‘123456789’, and ‘21345678’, with just over a million combined examples.

Ironically, within the top five most used passwords, are also ‘password’ and ‘secret’. It goes without saying that these are contenders for the least secure passwords possible, and that these could leave your organisation vulnerable, no matter which sector you operate within.

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Not-so-secret passwords

“Educational institutions handle vast amounts of personal information - from student records to internal communications - but many are still relying on passwords that would fail even the most basic cybersecurity test. The use of default or recycled credentials leaves the entire system vulnerable to attacks,” says Karolis Arbaciauskas, head of business product at NordPass.

We’ve seen several high-profile attacks on schools and universities, including the infamous Power Schools hack which exposed the information of students and teachers, including names, dates of birth, and contact details - with almost 62 million students thought to be affected.

Criminals like to target schools and universities in order to steal the personal information of children. With the data they steal, hackers can take out loans or credit cards using personal information in identity theft attacks and fraudulent applications - especially because children don't have a credit history.

If you need help on choosing a safe password - there are a few easy things you can do to immediately make yours more secure (or take a look at our full guide here!).

Make sure your passwords are over 12 characters, with a mix of lowercase and uppercase letters, as well as some special characters.

A great example of a safe password would be a phrase from your favourite tv show, with some letters switched out for numbers, like; ‘Streets;Ahead6S&AM!’. Alternatively, check out some of the best password generators to help with the task.

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