Sports clubs, radio personalities and TV programmes are among the most common passwords amongst internet users, making them prime targets for cybercriminals. 

That’s according to Cyber Skills who has urged people to reconsider their security choices. 

The tech company used HaveIBeenPwned.com, a website that tracks passwords that have been subject to data breaches, to discover the riskiest passwords for Irish people. 

Manchester United fans should consider changing their password, as the phrase manunited has been subject to 33,000 breaches. 

The password manchesterunited has been victim to 11,000 breaches, while liverpoolfc was part of 22,000 data hacks. 

Within Irish pop culture, the most commonly hacked passwords include fatherted (1,207 breaches), riverdance (2,047) and achtungbaby (1,005). 

The phrase patkenny has been hacked 36 times, while newstalk was part of 94 breaches and jesskelly was part of 49 hacks. 

The longer, the better

Cyber Skills spokesperson Dr Hazel Murray said pop culture passwords might appear strong but are “easily deciphered by cybercriminals”. 

“There's a common misconception that if a password contains personal information or interests that it will be strong,” she said. 

“Good passwords are multiple words strung together and avoid easily recognisable phrases.” 

National Cyber Security Centre Richard Browne said the longer the password, the better. 

“If you go to 10 characters or more it gets very, very difficult to break it,” he said. 

Cyber Skills released this study to mark Cyber Security Month to “empower individuals and businesses to take control of their digital lives and protect themselves against cyber threats”.