OWASP just released episode number 59.  They discuss a number of topics, but during the last third of the podcast they focus on the 32 million clear text passwords that were stolen from RockYou and later posted on the Internet. They also explore Imperva's research paper that explores the strength of those passwords.

The report identifies the most commonly used passwords:

   1. 123456
   2. 12345
   3. 123456789
   4. Password
   5. iloveyou
   6. princess
   7. rockyou
   8. 1234567
   9. 12345678
  10. abc123

"Everyone needs to understand what the combination of poor passwords means in today's world of automated cyber attacks: with only minimal effort, a hacker can gain access to one new account every second—or 1000 accounts every 17 minutes," explained Imperva's CTO Amichai Shulman. "The data provides a unique glimpse into the way that users select passwords and an opportunity to evaluate the true strength of passwords as a security mechanism. Never before has there been such a high volume of real-world passwords to examine."

Some key findings of the study include:

• The shortness and simplicity of passwords means many users select credentials that will make them susceptible to basic forms of cyber attacks known as "brute force attacks."
• Nearly 50% of users used names, slang words, dictionary words or trivial passwords (consecutive digits, adjacent keyboard keys, and so on). The most common password is "123456".
• Recommendations for users and administrators for choosing strong passwords.