Why it is a bad idea to set your pet's name as a password

All my fellow pet owners understand all too well that our little creature is the most important thing in our lives. At least, that's how I see Sjaan, whom I proudly photograph and admire from every angle every day. Sometimes I can suddenly burst into tears, simply because I find her such a sweet little dog. Are all pet owners so obsessed with their pets? I just assume so.

Well, it seems plausible that we are all crazy about our pets. So it makes perfect sense that we use our pet's name as a password for, for example, email or other online accounts. Because what is easier to remember than the name of your dearest dog or cat? Or your guinea pig, horse, lizard, stick insect, or whatever you are the proud owner of. I dare say we all have at least one password in the form of our pet's name.

But as handy as this may seem, setting such a password is actually a very bad idea. Why? Because it makes life significantly easier for hackers. I will explain how this works, but first, I will quickly change all my passwords. Better safe than sorry.

Well, to begin with, you are not the only one who uses their pet's name as a password. A survey from the American digital security platform Aura shows that 39 percent of people who own a pet have set the name of this creature as a password for an online account. But why is this so risky?

That is due to none other than ourselves. Because we, as owners, are as proud as a peacock of the existence of our pet, we share a lot of information (both consciously and unconsciously) about them on social media. Think of a Story on Instagram of your ‘cheerful Buddy’ in the park, or a video of your ‘legendary cat Simba’ on TikTok. Or worse: when you have created a separate social media account for your pet, because believe me: many owners do that. I don't mind the whole world seeing how amazing Sjaan is, but that also means that really everyone can enjoy it, including hackers. In other words: hackers can easily find out that you have a pet this way, and then they will take this information and run with it.

It also turned out from the same survey that 59 percent of people who have set their pet's name as a password regularly post a photo on social media of their pet. Additionally, 48 percent also included the name. Well, you certainly won't make it easier for those hackers.

So, you can choose not to post your pet on social media anymore, but an easier option is of course just to change all those passwords. This way, you can still proudly show your furry (or bald or scaly) child to the world without your data falling into the wrong hands.