Such phrases are vulnerable to a dictionary attack based on common phrases taken from the internet.

ECONOMIST: Online security

Or they use a "dictionary attack, " an elaborate guessing game in which thousands of address combinations are tested for validity.

FORBES: Spam Warfare

But because they use cryptographic hashes to obscure those words, the computing power to run a dictionary attack has long been unavailable to most users.

FORBES: Moxie Marlinspike's CloudCracker Aims For Speedier, Cheaper Password Cracking

The most common passwords on Christian blogging site Faithwriters included words like jesuschrist, heaven, christ, and blessed, all easy enough to guess for a hacker to guess or even easier to find with a dictionary attack that cycles through millions of word variants.

FORBES: Researcher Creates Clearinghouse Of 14 Million Hacked Passwords

And some critics accused her of using the wrong word in her attack on Mr Abbott, pointing to the dictionary definition of ''misogyny'' as a pathological hatred of females.

BBC: Asia