Personal Identification Number (PIN) is an important security tool. On your mobile devices and on your ATM cards, the four digit PIN codes can grant unrestricted access to your user accounts. So if a criminal is able to compromise your PIN, he automatically has access to the funds in your bank account or to information you hold dear on your mobile device.
Seeing how important our PIN can be, we will outline the things we do wrong and how to ensure the safety of our PIN.
WHAT WE DO WRONG WITH OUR PIN.
Most people are not creative when they choose their PIN. It has been said that the most common PIN combination is 1234. How easy that can be for a criminal, knowing he has good odds with trying 1234 on a stolen card or device. Don’t be part of this statistic; change your PIN today if it is 1234.
Never write your PIN down, least of all on a paper in your wallet. Just imagine how delighted a pick pocket will be when he opens a stolen wallet or purse and sees the card and a paper with the PIN written on it. Unfortunately this happens.
Your birth date is not an option. Yes it is four digits and probably the easiest number for you to remember, but it’s the worst PIN you can choose. Most often than not our driver’s license and ATM cards are in our wallet or purse. A loss of your wallet then gives a thief your card and the PIN to access it.
Don’t use popular PIN combinations, for example the word LOVE which stands for 5683 on a phones keypad.
The key word in PIN is “Personal”. Your PIN is strictly for you, so don’t share it. If you have ever given your PIN to a roommate, spouse or friend, now is a good time to change it. I have seen cases of roommates and even a spouse who were entrusted with a PIN once to help get cash from an ATM and they continued taking cash secretly without the card owner’s knowledge.
WHAT WE CAN DO RIGHT WITH OUR PIN.
In choosing your PIN, be creative. Find a number that has meaning to you, but is gibberish to everyone else. In doing this you can convert a phrase to numbers, for example, “I Love Week Ends” (ILWE) which stands for 4593 on a phone keypad.
Use a portion of an old phone number, like your parent’s or a friend’s. 7670 is a part of an old phone number I had growing up. No one around me today knows it and it isn’t listed.
Use scores of your favorite game to create a PIN. I like football and a team I follow once played 3-1 at home and 0-2 away. This gives me 3102 as a PIN.
The logic behind these PIN creation tactics is that it has meaning to you, so there is no need to write down the numbers you come up with. It is also hard for any thief to guess.
Image source: NPR
