Kanye West unwittingly revealed his iPhone lock screen password to the world during a meeting at the Oval Office with President Donald Trump.
As well as being caught using curse term ‘motherf*cker’ in the president’s workspace, the self-proclaimed genius was caught on video accidentally divulging his six-digit passcode: 0-0-0-0-0-0.
The clip has since gone viral, with many expressing surprise at the high-profile musician’s relaxed approach towards security.
Kanye West with the air tight security on his phone with the password 000000 pic.twitter.com/E6RC7Ws4j3
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 11, 2018
But, just how weak or guessable is the divisive figure’s security code?
Earlier this year security researchers 4ig trawled through 1.4 billion personal password credentials and discovered that despite the increasing challenges facing cyber security, members of the public – Mr West included – still opt for elementary passcodes when protecting their technology.
Here are the ten most common six-digit codes employed by people protecting their devices, according to 4ig
1. 123456
2. 111111
3. 123123
4.123321
5. 654321
6. 666666
7. 121212
8. 222222
9. 555555
10. 112233
Despite the apparent simplicity of Kanye West’s passcode, it didn’t make 4ig’s list of the most used 6-digit passwords.
123456 was the most used password, with over 9 million uses of the password.
111111 was a distant second with 1.2 million uses on digital devices.
Phone passwords an inconvenience
CEO of mobile security consultancy Copper Horse, David Rogers revealed the issue with West’s casual approach to security.
“PINs like 000000 and 123456 are amongst the top most predictable PINs used so should be avoided.
“The main issue is that he input his password in front of the press cameras.
“There is, however nothing to say that Kanye didn’t set a temporary password before he went into the White House so the joke may be on everyone else!
“As long as he resets his password and isn’t using it anywhere else he isn’t really at risk.”
Rogers explains why West and other users may opt for the simplest password possible: “It does however demonstrate the issue of how inconvenient access control is on mobile devices; users often revert to the most quick and easy way to get into the device.”