A cyber security firm says north-east businesses are at risk of being hacked - because their Aberdeen football heroes are on a list of most-hacked passwords.
The names of Sir Alex Ferguson and six of his Gothenburg Greats were on a list of 100,000 commonly breached passwords compiled by the National Cyber Security Centre.
On the list alongside ‘Red Army’, ‘Aberdeen’ and ‘Aberdeen1’, were ‘Black’, ‘Hewitt’, ‘Leighton’, ‘Miller’, ‘Cooper’, ‘Simpson’ and ‘Ferguson’, ‘Ferguson1’ and ‘Fergie’.
The date of the Dons’ 1983 triumph over Real Madrid also makes the list, along with the man who scored Real Madrid’s goal, Juanito.
North-east IT company Converged Communication Solutions says it is time for Dons fans of a certain age to update their passwords.
The firm's chief security officer Gerry Grant said: “Basic passwords that are simply a surname can pose a massive risk to organisations of all sizes.
"They can be the chink in an organisation’s cyber security defence that can let someone with malicious intent access their computer systems.
"Any individual, business or charity can be a potential target for a cyber attack and it is important we all understand the threats we face and how we can go about protecting ourselves.
“Creating strong passwords is a good first line of defence. Combining three random words to build a passphrase can help to improve cyber security.”
Converged will host a free IT workshop in Aberdeen Thursday, 20 June, when businesses, charities and organisations can learn how strong passwords can provide as stubborn a defence as the Dons during their European Cup Winners Cup winning run.
The event will be at the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) Marischal Square offices, in partnership with RBS and CeeD, the Centre for Engineering Education and Development.
