Password123

Filmmaker Uses AI to Visualize Thousands Of Passwords Leaked On The Dark Web

Your password might be in this film. In an exploration into data and privacy, UK filmmaker Daniel McKee has created a unique film titled “Password123” for the new single "ALONE" from London-based musician HOWE.

The film visualizes real passwords that have been leaked on the dark web over the past decade from some of the most notorious data breaches, including those of Facebook in 2021 and Collection #1 in 2019. Each password was run unedited, and without additional guidance, through the text-to-image ai DALL-E 2.

“Password123” offers a rare glimpse into user habits and highlights keyboard patterns from as simple as “QWERTY” to as complex as “OBAFGKM” — a stellar classification system for astronomers. The names of loved ones, pets, memorable dates, sports teams, and places were among the most common, while random strings of letters and numbers turned out to be serial codes written on the side of mass-produced office printers.

Daniel handpicked passwords from an enormous 32GB file containing 847,223,403 passwords. To protect the privacy of users, personally identifiable information, such as full names, addresses, and emails has been edited.

Daniel writes: “We share these secret phrases with computers every day, and they occupy a special place in our minds. I wanted to see how an AI would reveal them as images”.

McKee's film serves as a timely reminder of the importance of robust password security in an age when data breaches are increasingly common. For further reading about password security and to check if your information has been compromised in a past data breach, visit https://haveibeenpwned.com/.