How ‘common’ is your ATM pin?

It is a common fact that people are naturally bad at selecting tedious and obscure personal identification numbers (PIN). The most common PIN is the staggeringly predictable  ‘1234’.Whilst that is bad, the list of top 15 most common PINs is also an obvious read.

Top 15 pins;

  1. 1234
  2. 1111
  3. 0000
  4. 1212
  5. 7777
  6. 1004
  7. 2000
  8. 4444
  9. 2222
  10. 6969
  11. 9999
  12. 3333
  13. 5555
  14. 6666
  15. 1122 (https://gizmodo.com/5946582/the-20-most-common-pins-are-painfully-obvious)

Yet people still think they have a ‘tough enough’ PIN, despite most people’s being entirely guessable. The percentage of PIN hacks has increased in 2018 by 12% leaving it at 54%.. Let’s hope we can reduce this percentage in 2019.

So, how to come up with a good PIN? First tip, avoid all the choices above! Pick something slightly more mysterious. For example the year or date of a memorable trip you took, the year a particular country  won the world cup, the last four digits of your work/mobile number or even your childhood home phone number.  Choosing the most obvious PIN is problematic for bank cards, phones, computers and even PIN locks. It is common knowledge now that people tend to use memorable dates backwards, so this should also be avoided.

So, be smart, be creative and stay safe.

 

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