Cyber attacks across the world are on the rise. The privacy and security of individuals is more at risk than ever before. Under such conditions, a weak security pin can make your devices more vulnerable to phishing and malware attacks. A recent analysis of leaked databases from Information is Beautiful shows that people still use common PIN passwords to protect crucial information on their devices. Many people struggle to create complex pins and passwords and are therefore prone to create easy patterns that don’t tickle the brain and are easy to remember.
A weak PIN could be the easiest way for cybercriminals to breach your system. It could be something as obvious as "1234" or "0000". These could be easily predictable numbers based on your date of birth, year of birth or any other basic personal information easily available through your digital footprints.
The website Information is Beautiful analysed the database of some 3.4 million breached PINs, and found these to be some of the most common patterns:
1234
1111
0000
1212
7777
1004
2000
4444
2222
6969
Despite being easy to guess, '1234' continues to be an easy code that occurs more often than all of the 4,200 least-common PINs combined, the study finds. The second most frequently used passcode is '1111' which represents around 6 per cent of all PINs in the data above. This is followed by '0000' and '1212', both making up close to 2 per cent of all PINs.
8557
8438
9539
7063
6827
0859
6793
0738
6835
8093
'By using simple or easy-to-guess passcodes it enables attackers to target people more easily', said Jake Moore, a global cybersecurity advisor at ESET, while speaking to an international news website MailOnline. ‘Many people underestimate the risk until they are compromised,’ Moore says.
Seasoned hackers hold the potential to crack a significant portion of passcode guesses under a few attempts. ‘'People continue to use PIN codes that are commonly used or those that are related to them and easily accessible such as dates of birth,’ Moore says highlighting the limited capacity of people to remember complex numerical patterns.
‘With just 61 guesses, a hacker could crack one-third of all passcodes, while using only 426 someone could guess half of all PINs in the dataset,’ he says.
Therefore it is vital to prioritise security when selecting a PIN to protect your accounts and system. A strong and unique PIN can reduce the risk of unauthorised access to your sensitive information.
