Passwords are crucial to protecting our digital information. However, millions of people worldwide continue to use obvious and easy-to-guess passwords such as birth dates, family names, numerical sequences ("123456"), alphabetical sequences ("abcdef"), names of football teams, or pets. This bad practice makes it easier for cybercriminals and puts our online security at serious risk.

To coincide with Password Month, Santander has launched a global awareness campaign about obvious passwords. Because when facing a global challenge like cybersecurity, every individual's actions are fundamental to staying protected online.

The initiatives we're running include temporarily changing the signage of various branches in Spain and Uruguay. Instead of the name "Santander," the sign featured our iconic flame and nine white asterisks.

We also did this on our social media profiles in Spain, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Mexico and the UK. On these platforms, we replaced letters with asterisks in images of everyday objects like a calendar marking special dates, a football team scarf, or a computer keyboard, to reflect some of the most common and, therefore, most vulnerable passwords.

We also used this creative approach with popular phrases to demonstrate how easily they can be deciphered; for example: "Hasta la *****, baby."

Moreover, we posed a challenge to influencers and content creators in several countries like Brazil and Chile by sending them a safe with an eight-digit secret code that they had to decipher with the help of their followers in less than 24 hours.

Alongside these initiatives, we continue to offer practical tips to strengthen cybersecurity: using multifactor authentication (MFA) as an additional layer of protection; activating security features like Santander Key and Santander Pass; or following simple steps to avoid obvious passwords.