New research from Specops Software shows that love-themed passwords are still extremely common, despite years of warnings from security experts. In fact, across a database of breached and compromised passwords, the word “love” appeared more than 4.7 million times — making it one of the most predictable (and hackable) choices users continue to rely on.
Additionally, terms from classic literature such as Wuthering Heights and from popular romance-themed TV shows like Heated Rivalry, are frequently appearing, suggesting that people often choose passwords based on beloved characters, themes, and fandom referenced.
The top 5 romance pop-culture breached passwords right now are:
- ilya – 233,702
- shane – 105,429
- hockey – 67,658
- boston – 34,886
- catherine – 25,143
This may seem like a harmless trend at first glance but predictable passwords are always a prblem because they are easier to breach in attacks. When users create romantic passwords based on love, names, pop culture, or seasonal events, they reduce the overall number of guesses an attacker needs.
The full details of this analysis can be found here: https://specopssoft.com/blog/romantic-passwords-cybercriminals-love/
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This entry was posted on February 11, 2026 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Specops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Love, Fandom, and Hackers: The Romantic Passwords Cybercriminals Can’t Resist
New research from Specops Software shows that love-themed passwords are still extremely common, despite years of warnings from security experts. In fact, across a database of breached and compromised passwords, the word “love” appeared more than 4.7 million times — making it one of the most predictable (and hackable) choices users continue to rely on.
Additionally, terms from classic literature such as Wuthering Heights and from popular romance-themed TV shows like Heated Rivalry, are frequently appearing, suggesting that people often choose passwords based on beloved characters, themes, and fandom referenced.
The top 5 romance pop-culture breached passwords right now are:
This may seem like a harmless trend at first glance but predictable passwords are always a prblem because they are easier to breach in attacks. When users create romantic passwords based on love, names, pop culture, or seasonal events, they reduce the overall number of guesses an attacker needs.
The full details of this analysis can be found here: https://specopssoft.com/blog/romantic-passwords-cybercriminals-love/
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This entry was posted on February 11, 2026 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Specops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.