Cracked in under a minute: (nearly) every other password
A recent study reveals that nearly half of all passwords can be cracked in under a minute, with 60% taking less than an hour. The analysis of 231 million unique passwords from dark-web leaks shows that the majority are alarmingly weak. As password cracking techniques evolve, users are urged to adopt more secure methods to protect their data and accounts.
- ▪Nearly half of all passwords can be cracked in under a minute.
- ▪60% of passwords take less than an hour to crack.
- ▪The study analyzed 231 million unique passwords from dark-web leaks between 2023 and 2026.
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| Original publisher | Kaspersky official blog |
| Canonical URL | https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/passwords-hacking-research-2026/55743/ |
| Publication time | Sun, 24 May 2026 23:24:52 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-24T23:37:34.938Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-24T23:37:34.938Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
| Substitutes article? | No — link-out required for full text |
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| Snippet | May a short excerpt of the publisher's text be shown? | Allowed |
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| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
passwords Cracked in under a minute: (nearly) every other password We’ve revisited our study on the crackability of real-world passwords leaked on the dark web — originally conducted two years ago. The findings are sobering: nearly every other password can be cracked in under a minute, and three out of five take less than an hour. How can we move away from insecure passwords? Alexey Antonov May 7, 2026 Every year, hundreds of millions of real user passwords leak onto the dark web. We analyzed 231 million unique passwords from dark-web leaks between 2023 and 2026, and the conclusions are bleak: the vast majority are extremely weak. To crack 60% of these passwords, a hacker needs only an hour and a few dollars in their pocket.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Kaspersky official blog.
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