Sometimes it's good to be like everyone else — but when it comes to choosing a password, we should all strive to be as unique as possible.

More people choose "password" than any other word or phrase to secure their accounts, according to a recent study. In case you haven't taken the hint, that makes password the absolute worst string of characters you can chose to protect your online identity.

SplashData has just released its annual list of the worst passwords, which features the most common phrases used on the Internet and posted by hackers.

The three worst passwords haven't changed since 2011; they're password, 123456 and 12345678. The new worst passwords added to this year's list include welcome, jesus, ninja, mustang and password1.

SEE ALSO: 5 Tools for Keeping Track of Your Passwords

"At this time of year, people enjoy focusing on scary costumes, movies and decorations, but those who have been through it can tell you how terrifying it is to have your identity stolen because of a hacked password," says Morgan Slain, SplashData CEO. "We're hoping that with more publicity about how risky it is to use weak passwords, more people will start taking simple steps to protect themselves by using stronger passwords and using different passwords for different websites." Here's the complete list:

1. password (unchanged)

2. 123456 (unchanged)

3. 12345678 (unchanged)

4. abc123 (up 1)

5. qwerty (down 1)

6. monkey (unchanged)

7. letmein (up 1)

8. dragon (up 2)

9. 111111 (up 3)

10. baseball (up 1)

11. iloveyou (up 2)

12. trustno1 (down 3)

13. 1234567 (down 6)

14. sunshine (up 1)

15. master (down 1)

16. 123123 (up 4)

17. welcome (new)

18. shadow (up 1)

19. ashley (down 3)

20. football (up 5)

21. jesus (new)

22. michael (up 2)

23. ninja (new)

24. mustang (new)

25. password1 (new)

We sure hope you didn't find one of your passwords. If you did, we highly advice you switch it fast. For tips on choosing strong passwords, watch the video above.

Following the high-profile hacks of Yahoo, LinkedIn, eHarmony and Last.fm passwords this year, Internet users have hopefully given some additional thought to their online security. What are your best tips for staying secure online? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Mari