Despite years of being told we should have strong and unique passwords, people are still using predictable patterns to secure access to their online lives.

The most common passwords of 2016 include "123456", "qwerty" and "111111", according to a recently released compilation. Anyone using one of these guessable strings of letters and numbers would be wise to change them immediately if they want to keep their information safe.

More than 50pc of people use the top 25 most common passwords, according to password manager Keeper, with a significant 17pc - almost one in five - of all users having "123456" as their protective code.

Keeper compiled the list by scouring 10 million passwords leaked in data breaches. Predictably, the most popular passwords include variations of "123456" and "qwerty", as well as "password" and "google".