These cyber-attacks could lead to stolen money, identity theft and the loss of private information, Project Password said in a press release.
"Unique and strong passwords were one of the keys to ensuring accounts are safe from cyber-attacks.
"A lot of people use names which can be easily hacked."
Even celebrities were caught with weak passwords.
"I'm quite nervous about this because I am worried that my password is not very good at all," New Zealand comedian Guy Williams said.
"It's my name and birthday, please do not Google that!"
After seeing how vulnerable they were to hackers, many Mount Maunganui citizens decided to strengthen their passwords.
Project Password has three simple steps for a strong password; a capital letter, a number and symbol.
People who could not remember complicated passwords can create a passphrase, the press statement said.
Passphrases are longer sentences, usually containing around 5 or more words such as "ilovemountmaunganuibeach". These passwords were a simple but more secure to protect valuable bank, email and social media information.
Visit the Project Password Facebook page to see the video of Mount Maunganui citizens reacting to their password strength.
Project Password
- a campaign aiming to have all internet users in New Zealand become secure within their online activities. Its mission is to reduce the complacency surrounding passwords and get New Zealanders' to strengthen their passwords.
- consists of a group of University of Waikato Students and will run until mid-October.