Security firm Kaspersky warns that 45% of passwords can be cracked within a minute using brute force or smart guessing attacks. Analyzing 193 million English passwords from the darknet, Kaspersky found 87 million could be broken within 60 seconds. Another 14% could be cracked in under an hour, while only 23% could last over a year.

Most passwords (57%) contain dictionary words, weakening security. Common choices include names, "love," "gamer," "password," and "12345." Only 19% of passwords are strong, featuring a mix of non-dictionary words, lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Yet, 39% of these can still be guessed by algorithms in under an hour.

Attackers don't need advanced tools; a powerful laptop can crack an eight-character lowercase password in seven minutes, and modern video cards can do it in 17 seconds.

Yuliya Novikova, head of digital footprint intelligence at Kaspersky, states: "Humans create 'human' passwords with dictionary words, names, and numbers. Even strong-looking combinations are seldom random and can be guessed by algorithms. The best solution is to use modern, reliable password managers to generate completely random passwords."