Observed Signal · Oct 3, 2026 · Report · Source: Horizont · Impact: 1/5 · Sentiment: Negative

Schalke Top in Worst Football Passwords Ranking

Executive Signal Summary

The German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom has published a negative ranking of the most commonly used passwords related to football clubs. The name 'Schalke04' emerged as the most frequently found football-related password in Germany, with approximately 539,000 instances, followed by 'Schalke04' with 203,000. Other clubs like Hannover 96 and BVB also appear high on the list. The ranking is based on passwords that were stolen by cybercriminals and offered on dark web channels, which Telekom's security division discovered and warned customers about. The list also highlights other simple passwords such as 'abc123' and 'password1' as highly common and insecure. Telekom advises users to avoid such simple passwords and considers passwords a legacy concept, recommending the use of passkeys as a more secure authentication method.

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High Confidence

Minor news about password security with football-related passwords; relevance to AdTech is indirect, focusing on user security practices.

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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding

  • Deutsche Telekom published a negative ranking of football-related passwords.
  • The password 'schalke04' was found approximately 539,000 times in Germany.
  • Other simple passwords like 'abc123' and 'password1' were found over 1 million times each.
  • Telekom recommends using passkeys instead of traditional passwords.
  • The ranking is based on passwords offered on illegal dark web channels.

Connected Companies & Entities

1 Entity mapped

“Die Deutsche Telekom veröffentlichte ein Negativ-Ranking von Passwörtern der vergangenen Jahre......”

Primary Source Grounding & Direct Attribution
Direct Origin Attribution
Primary Reporting: Horizont•Published: Oct 3, 2026
Original Coverage Title: “IT-Sicherheit: Schalke liegt weit vorn - im Negativranking schlechter Passwörter”

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