The 2009 RockYou data breach exposed millions of user passwords, revealing that many people used easily guessable and weak passwords like "12345678" or "password". This highlights the need for stronger password policies and better security measures to protect user data.
A massive list of actual passwords was released after the fifth largest breach at the time, leading to an increase in password cracking methods and tools among hackers and security professionals.
The use of high-volume, brute force attacks on easily guessable passwords is not an effective way to detect attacks. Analysis of common passwords such as "123456" and "password" shows that relying on these methods is insufficient.