The worst passwords of 2014 are ...

The idea of hackers looking though all of your digital information is enough to make your skin crawl, but could we be making it too easy on them?

SplashData released a list of this year's most common passwords. On the top of this list is 123456, and the word "password" comes in at No. 2.

As a writer for Gizmodo put it: "It's 2015 and it would be nice to think that people had learned what makes a good password by now. They haven't."

To make things worse, many of these bad passwords have been on the worst-passwords list for years, making hacking whatever they are supposed to protect almost effortless.

Researchers recommend that you don't set passwords made up of numbers alone, especially sequences. Any sequence that includes letters that are together on the keyboard, a sport or sports team, your birth year or a child's name is very common and is too easy for hackers to figure out.

Instead, use a password of eight characters or more that includes letters and numbers, and avoid using the same password for multiple sites.

TechCrunch recommends adding numbers to an easy-to-remember phrase as a way to keep hackers at bay.

Using a password manager is also a good idea. They typically generate a random password for you and will automatically, and securely, log in to sites.

Researchers say although a lot of people are still using bad passwords, the total number has gone down when compared to previous years - hopefully a sign people are trying a bit harder to protect their digital data.

Here's the entire list again. Hopefully your password isn't on it ...

123456
password
12345
12345678
qwerty
1234567890
1234
baseball
dragon
football
1234567
monkey
letmein
abc123
111111
mustang
access
shadow
master
michael
superman
696969
123123
batman
trustno1



More to see:
Obama aims to influence 2016 debate with State of the Union
Seeing double? Celebrities who have the same tattoos
Defense witness in 'Serial' murder case claims prosecutor convinced her to avoid trial