Your information and finances are at risk if your credit card number or phone number is on this list
Surprisingly, nearly one in ten people worldwide use the same four-digit PIN to protect their devices, bank accounts, and personal data. The authors of this study cataloged 29 million stolen PINs from the Have I Been Pwned? website ... and showed us that the security of our digital lives may be more fragile than we think.
Although a four-digit PIN theoretically has 10,000 possible combinations, the tendency to choose memorable combinations such as 1234, 1111 or 0000 reduces the effectiveness of this supposed layer of protection to a minimum. In the case of 1234, it is estimated that it is used by 9% of users worldwide, making it a very insecure option.
Why does this happen? Simple: Users often prefer codes that are easy to remember or have personal meaning, such as birth years (e.g., 1986 or 2000). However, falling into these patterns also makes the criminals’ job easier. According to the analysis, if someone has only five attempts to unlock their phone or withdraw money from an ATM, a criminal will guess the PIN correctly 1 out of 8 times.
According to a study by Have I Been Pwned, the 50 most common PINs were identified, with the most common being 1234. Other numbers such as 1111, 0000, 1212, or recurring combinations such as 2222 and 4444 also appear on the list. On the other hand, years such as 1986 or 2020 are among the most used. Below are the most commonly used PINs that you should avoid:
The full list includes many other combinations that may seem random but actually reflect shared cultural and psychological patterns.