And the World Cup Security Centre’s WiFi password is…

Here’s a behind-the-scenes photograph of the World Cup security centre in Brazil, as published by local news outlet Correio Braziliense.

Spot anything odd? If you can’t see anything unusual, I’ve added a subtle animation to draw your attention over the shoulder of Luiz Cravo Dorea, head of the federal police’s international coordination centre.

Brazil Wifi password cockup

Yes, that’s right.

Sign up to our free newsletter.
Security news, advice, and tips.

On on those fancy screens in the background you can see information about how to log into the World Cup security centre’s wireless network.

wifi network: WORLDCUP
password: b5a2112014

“b5a2112014” is, of course, leet speak for “brazil2014”. Hardly the smartest or most secure password in the world.

But then, leaving it visible for the media to photograph wasn’t that smart either.

Now, does anyone remember what the Super Bowl’s super-secure WiFi password was?

Or how about the password used last Winter by the UK’s flood emergency response team?


Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "Smashing Security" podcast. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

6 comments on “And the World Cup Security Centre’s WiFi password is…”

  1. Andy

    Yeah, but that dude has a cool supper club like jacket – so it's all okay.

  2. Andrijana

    …as well as a very cool jacket indeed… he has Croatian flags for screen savers, so totally ok!

  3. Coyote

    Leet speak from THEM? Oh dear me. It brings me back a couple decades and then some… it was stupid then and it is STILL stupid! Of course, I'll neglect the fact that the password doesn't even have any non-alphanumerical characters (the irony! I'm just neglecting to elaborate – pointing it out is still 'neglecting' it!) and as per usual, agree: yes, not only is it stupid to allow it to be on camera, I have to wonder why the …. was it visible for all in the first place ? Surely they could do better than THAT! Oh, wait. We're talking about a sports and then government. In that case, perhaps we should give them much credit as they DID do a VERY GOOD JOB for THEIR capabilities, right? I don't think – unfortunately – that that is actually the very cynical person in me. No, no, this is all genuine…

    1. Vic · in reply to Coyote

      Cynical? Since when is it cynical to speak the truth about the incompetence of the state?

      One of these days people will wake up and stop calling it government. Government is supposed to have integrity. It's supposed to be something you can trust with your life, your property, your security. The state can't even secure itself.

      It's not the people. You can get rid of the current clowns, and new clowns will move in to take their places. The system itself is the problem. You can fire the people but you can't fire the system. The system is not secure because it doesn't answer to anyone but itself.

  4. Mos

    Whilst it provides a little laugh, and I can believe that organizations can be that foolish, the photo looks a bit suspicious to me… the angle of the type doesn't look correct (as if someone has 'shopped it in).

    Keep up the grand work Mr Cluley.

  5. Stan

    Haha, this is hilarious !

    Furthermore, it's "quite a shitty" password. Even for my regular stuff I use passwords that are literally million-fold stronger.

    Obviously, he does not like his job and is looking for a quick way to get fired :-)

What do you think? Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.