What is something the United States and Russian have in common? They rank among the countries with the most leaked passwords, meaning their internet users are at high risk of having their accounts compromised by data breaches that can expose them to identity theft and other cybercrimes.
Russia is by far the riskiest country for exposed login information, but the U.S. and other European countries rank among the top 10 — countries where extra diligence is clearly required to ensure that emails, bank details, social media profiles, and other online accounts are secured. (This is the cost of a computer every year since 1970.)
Passwords are often obtained through breached databases, such as the one discovered at web-hosting company GoDaddy on Nov. 17, that impacted nearly 1.2 million of its customers. According to NordPass, the password management division of Nord Security, China and the United States had by far the largest numbers of exposed databases in 2020. (This may be because the stakes are so big: In terms of total wealth, the two are the richest countries in the world.)
To determine the countries with the most leaked passwords overall, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from a report on passwords published by NordPass, which compiled the data in partnership with what it describes as “independent researchers specializing in research of cybersecurity incidents.” The researchers evaluated a 4TB database and devised a risk index, sorting countries into three tiers — low, medium, and high. Per capita and total numbers of leaks span a period of approximately ten years.
Click here to see the countries with the most leaked passwords
There’s not much a person can do to avoid database breaches, but for general password security internet subscribers should avoid easy-to-crack passwords and try to use unique passwords for each online account. Regularly changing passwords, though inconvenient, can add an extra layer of security.Â
Source: Mordolff / Getty Images
Russia
> Leaks per capita: 19.9
> Total leaks: 2,867,917,611
> Risk level: High
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Source: nantonov / Getty Images
Czech Republic
> Leaks per capita: 6.2
> Total leaks: 66,555,194
> Risk level: High
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Source: manjik / Getty Images
France
> Leaks per capita: 6
> Total leaks: 406,037,879
> Risk level: High
Source: bluejayphoto / Getty Images
Germany
> Leaks per capita: 5.8
> Total leaks: 485,970,198
> Risk level: High
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Source: GCShutter / Getty Images
United States
> Leaks per capita: 5.2
> Total leaks: 1,699,435,286
> Risk level: High
Source: Eva-Katalin / Getty Images
Italy
> Leaks per capita: 4.4
> Total leaks: 260,463,991
> Risk level: High
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Source: Xantana / Getty Images
Poland
> Leaks per capita: 3.6
> Total leaks: 137,256,417
> Risk level: High
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Source: diegograndi / Getty Images
Canada
> Leaks per capita: 3.6
> Total leaks: 137,126,837
> Risk level: High
Source: scanrail / Getty Images
Denmark
> Leaks per capita: 3.6
> Total leaks: 20,983,451
> Risk level: High
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Source: TomasSereda / Getty Images
Hungary
> Leaks per capita: 3.6
> Total leaks: 34,878,861
> Risk level: High
Source: africanpix / Getty Images
Australia
> Leaks per capita: 3.3
> Total leaks: 85,083,432
> Risk level: High
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Source: benstevens / Getty Images
Ireland
> Leaks per capita: 3.2
> Total leaks: 16,158,263
> Risk level: High
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Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
Portugal
> Leaks per capita: 3.1
> Total leaks: 32,512,389
> Risk level: Medium
Source: Olena_Znak / Getty Images
Netherlands
> Leaks per capita: 3
> Total leaks: 53,064,275
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: KavalenkavaVolha / Getty Images
Latvia
> Leaks per capita: 3
> Total leaks: 5,651,058
> Risk level: Medium
Source: scanrail / Getty Images
Sweden
> Leaks per capita: 2.9
> Total leaks: 30,224,869
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: QQ7 / Getty Images
Slovakia
> Leaks per capita: 2.9
> Total leaks: 15,665,872
> Risk level: Medium
Source: AleksandarGeorgiev / Getty Images
Switzerland
> Leaks per capita: 2.8
> Total leaks: 24,465,074
> Risk level: Medium
Source: IakovKalinin / Getty Images
United Kingdom
> Leaks per capita: 2.8
> Total leaks: 187,219,153
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: Robert CHG / Getty Images
New Zealand
> Leaks per capita: 2.8
> Total leaks: 14,085,724
> Risk level: Medium
Source: cookelma / Getty Images
Norway
> Leaks per capita: 2.6
> Total leaks: 14,163,324
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: KavalenkavaVolha / Getty Images
Estonia
> Leaks per capita: 2.6
> Total leaks: 3,413,454
> Risk level: Medium
Source: Gatsi / Getty Images
Spain
> Leaks per capita: 2.4
> Total leaks: 114,197,544
> Risk level: Medium
Source: vikau / Getty Images
Lithuania
> Leaks per capita: 2.3
> Total leaks: 6,480,402
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: Mustang_79 / Getty Images
Austria
> Leaks per capita: 2.3
> Total leaks: 20,346,581
> Risk level: Medium
Source: orpheus26 / Getty Images
Belgium
> Leaks per capita: 2.2
> Total leaks: 25,712,775
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: RobertBreitpaul / Getty Images
Greece
> Leaks per capita: 1.7
> Total leaks: 18,683,651
> Risk level: Medium
Source: hxdyl / Getty Images
Taiwan
> Leaks per capita: 1.4
> Total leaks: 32,734,573
> Risk level: Medium
Source: scanrail / Getty Images
Finland
> Leaks per capita: 1.3
> Total leaks: 7,338,273
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: anmbph / Getty Images
Ukraine
> Leaks per capita: 1.3
> Total leaks: 56,417,724
> Risk level: Medium
Source: RossHelen / Getty Images
Romania
> Leaks per capita: 1.1
> Total leaks: 20,299,122
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: Sean Pavone / Getty Images
Israel
> Leaks per capita: 1
> Total leaks: 9,432,066
> Risk level: Medium
Source: TomasSereda / Getty Images
Malaysia
> Leaks per capita: 1
> Total leaks: 32,715,734
> Risk level: Medium
Source: tifonimages / Getty Images
Chile
> Leaks per capita: 1
> Total leaks: 18,167,013
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: JandaliPhoto / Getty Images
United Arab Emirates
> Leaks per capita: 0.9
> Total leaks: 9,052,157
> Risk level: Medium
Source: GoranQ / Getty Images
Korea
> Leaks per capita: 0.9
> Total leaks: 47,183,439
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: yongyuan / Getty Images
Japan
> Leaks per capita: 0.7
> Total leaks: 85,561,976
> Risk level: Medium
Source: holgs / Getty Images
Philippines
> Leaks per capita: 0.6
> Total leaks: 66,443,068
> Risk level: Medium
Source: Seqoya / Getty Images
Turkey
> Leaks per capita: 0.6
> Total leaks: 50,884,124
> Risk level: Medium
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Source: Yuri de Mesquita Bar / Getty Images
Brazil
> Leaks per capita: 0.6
> Total leaks: 125,012,161
> Risk level: Low
Source: DC_Colombia / Getty Images
Colombia
> Leaks per capita: 0.6
> Total leaks: 29,071,696
> Risk level: Low
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Source: ferrantraite / Getty Images
Mexico
> Leaks per capita: 0.5
> Total leaks: 59,058,882
> Risk level: Low
Source: Chaiyaporn1144 / Getty Images
Vietnam
> Leaks per capita: 0.4
> Total leaks: 42,588,024
> Risk level: Low
Source: saiko3p / Getty Images
Thailand
> Leaks per capita: 0.4
> Total leaks: 26,817,707
> Risk level: Low
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Source: Ben1183 / Getty Images
South Africa
> Leaks per capita: 0.4
> Total leaks: 22,015,619
> Risk level: Low
Source: HansMusa / Getty Images
Saudi Arabia
> Leaks per capita: 0.3
> Total leaks: 9,043,581
> Risk level: Low
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Source: tawatchaiprakobkit / Getty Images
Indonesia
> Leaks per capita: 0.2
> Total leaks: 57,790,084
> Risk level: Low
Source: aphotostory / Getty Images
China
> Leaks per capita: 0.2
> Total leaks: 268,094,676
> Risk level: Low
Source: Instants / Getty Images
India
> Leaks per capita: 0.1
> Total leaks: 127,181,127
> Risk level: Low
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Source: Jaxons / Getty Images
Nigeria
> Leaks per capita: 0.1
> Total leaks: 10,435,463
> Risk level: Low
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