New cybersecurity study revealed the 10 most common 4-digit PIN numbers — is yours on the list?

In the digital age, cybercriminals are always on the lookout for an opportunity to steal from honest working individuals. Despite this, many overlook one of the simplest yet most critical firewalls, the 4-digit PIN. A new cybersecurity study has revealed that 1234 is still the most common PIN in the world, along with several other easy-to-guess combinations. 

Importance of strong PINs

Even though the 4-digit PINs are a small part of the overall security of accounts, they play a crucial role in safeguarding assets. With 10,000 possible combinations for a four-digit PIN, it would seem difficult for hackers to guess one. 

However, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET, Jake Moore, told MailOnline that people continue to use easy-to-guess passcodes that make them an easy target for hackers. As per the expert, using date of birth, or memorable pattern of numbers is a common but compromising trend. Furthermore, people keep using the same passcodes for years, further creating issues. 

Here are the 10 most common PINs

The data was originally compiled by the late Nick Berry, and presented in the "Data Genetics" report. It collected information on four-digit PINs that have been revealed by data breaches. About 3.4 million such PINs were then analyzed, by Information is Beautiful, to create a comprehensive map and analysis. 

Despite several warnings, '1234' remains the most common PIN making up almost 11% of the PINs analysed. The second most common PIN was another easy-to-guess combination of '1111', making up about 6% of all the PINs.  The PINs '0000' and '1212', followed the two with each close to a 2% share of all passwords.

Rest of the most common four-digit PINs:

7777

1004

2000

4444

2222

6969

The Daily Mail report pointed out that with just 61 guesses, a hacker could crack one-third of the total passcodes analyzed. Despite the limitations on the number of guesses, with only 5 attempts, a hacker could guess 20% of the PINs.

The Strongest PINs

The illustration also highlighted the least common PINs used as well. According to the data, the topper of the list was 8068, making up just 25 of the 3.4 million passcodes.  

The other least popular PINs were: 

8093

8398

7638

8428

8285

7583

6835

8629

7539

How to set a strong PIN

According to US Bank, there are some strategies to create unique PINs to help maximize security.

One of the popular strategies is the "Word Method". In this, the numbers of the PINs are associated with a word and mapped to a phone keypad. For instance, the word "SAFE" would translate to the PIN 7233. 

Similarly, a letter from a unique personal acronym can also be used to create a secure, random PIN. However, it is important to avoid palindromes and repeating digits to make the PIN harder to guess.  

Apart from birth dates, other common memorable dates like a pet's birthday can be used to create a unique but memorable PIN. 

Apart from choosing random, hard-to-guess PINs, it is also recommended to keep changing PINs from time to time to maximize protection. Furthermore it is recommended to use different PINs for different accounts.