Daily Authority: 🔓 Samsung's terrible password trend

🍟 Good morning! Welcome to Tuesday’s Daily Authority. I’m gearing up for Black Friday and prepping my wishlist, though the only item on it right now is an air fryer. Fingers crossed for the perfect deal!

Bad move, Samsung owners

We all know how important a strong password is to prevent unauthorized access to our accounts, don’t we? It seems like some Samsung owners didn’t get the memo, as a new study revealed that a growing number of Samsung owners are using the same terrible password.

• According to SamMobile, the study, carried out by password management solution company NordPass, found that “samsung” (with a lowercase S) was one of the most commonly used passwords in at least 30 countries.
• That may sound unbelievable, but when you consider that “password” is still the most commonly used password, followed closely by “12345” it suddenly seems more likely.
• Apparently this troubling trend is growing.
• SamMobile reports that “samsung” was the 198th most commonly used password in 2019.
• By 2020, it had reached 189th place.
• The terrible password continued its epic ascent to reach 78th place in the rankings by 2021.

Don’t be obvious

We can’t stress this enough: please don’t use the name of your phone’s brand as your password; just don’t. Whether you use a lowercase or uppercase S doesn’t affect how secure this password is, either.

• It may be tricky coming up with a hard-to-crack password for all your accounts, but it’s well worth the time spent to keep your personal data safe.
• If you’re the forgetful type, like many of us here at Android Authority, you could always use a password manager like LastPass to manage all of your passwords.
• Of course, we may soon be entering an entirely password-free future with more secure alternatives like Passkeys — developers on Android and Chrome can already try these out.
• While you’re here, why not check out our 33 tips to stay safe online and lower your risk of being hacked?

Roundup

📱 Samsung could finish its One UI 5 rollout soon (Android Authority).

👍 You can now (unofficially) add 32-bit support to your Pixel 7 phone (Android Authority).

❓ We asked, you told us: Your phone definitely supports dual SIMs (Android Authority).

👀 Facebook is making teens’ accounts more private by default, will encourage users under 16 to enable more restrictive privacy settings (The Verge).

💬 Android 13 fixes Android Auto call issues on Pixel phones; Google still investigating Pixel 7 issues (9to5Google).

😢 Amazon Alexa is a “colossal failure,” on pace to lose $10 billion this year (Ars Technica).

🏧 TSMC’s upcoming $12bn plant in Arizona will produce 3nm chips, founder confirms (GSMArena).

🐦Bye-bye Twitter? An official Google social account is now on Mastodon (9to5Google).

🌙 NASA ‘giddy’ over amazing moon views from Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft (Space.com).

🎮 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s coming to Steam December 6, just one of several Ubisoft games coming to the service, and the game’s getting a free epilogue to wrap up dangling plot threads on that date, too (Eurogamer).

Tuesday thing

November 22 isn’t just another grey November day — it’s Go for a Ride Day. The day celebrates exploring your surroundings by whatever method you choose, whether that’s by car, bike, train, bus, or on foot.

• Why November 22? It’s the day the transport industry has seen many developments.
• On November 22 1904, Mathias Pfatischer of Philadephia was issued the first US patent for the current, variable speed, interpole electric motor.
• On the same day in 1927, American inventor, Carl J. Eliason of Saynor, Wisconsin, acquired the patent for the snowmobile. It took two winters to create, and you can see his original, hand-built invention in the Vilas County Historical Society Museum in Wisconsin.
• Concorde’s scheduled service to New York from London and Paris began on November 22, 1977.

You could celebrate today by getting on your e-bike or scooter, charging up your EV and taking off on a road trip, going for a run, or hopping on a train or bus — don’t forget to pack your noise-cancelling earbuds, though.

Have a great Tuesday!

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.