Have you ever been on the phone with customer service and when they asked you for your Secure PIN, you totally blanked out? You’re not alone. While passwords take the main stage when it comes to accessing accounts and security, PINs are important too. These short and sweet codes are an important part of protecting your private information, but many people find them hard to keep track of. That’s why we’re sharing these pointers for creating and remembering effective PINs.
What is a PIN?
First, let’s discuss what is the difference between a password and a PIN. A PIN, short for Personal Identification Number, is a numerical code set up to allow you to authenticate your identity and allow access to secure accounts such as banking, credit cards, or cell phones. In this era where identity theft and computer fraud has become prevalent, many people make the mistake of creating overly complicated or random PINs when they first set up an account, causing headaches down the road when it’s time to access them later.
How to create a secure PIN
TIP #1: Don’t be obvious. When it comes to creating a secure PIN, the first tip is to avoid the obvious. Never use basic combinations such as “1234” or “9876” and also avoid using numbers such as your house address, birthdays, or anniversaries.
TIP #2: Use the word method. PINs are numbers, but it can make it much easier to remember yours if you associate it with a word. Look at your phone keypad, choose a 4-letter word, and see what number coordinates with that word. For instance, the word “SAFE” would be “7233.” If you use this method, it’s best to use a less common word that’s unlikely to be guessed by someone.
TIP #3: Dates will work too. If words don’t work for you, it’s ok to select a date as your PIN, just make sure it’s not easy to guess. Ideas include things like first date anniversaries, the day you adopted your pet, or a mishmash of your kid’s or parent’s birthdays.
TIP #4: Store it safely. If you really want to be safe, you can create a very random, extra-long PIN and store it securely. To keep track of it, you can use a secure tool to store and manage passwords, such as LastPass or 1Password. This is also helpful for keeping track of different PINs for different accounts. Just like with creating strong passwords, it’s never a good idea to use the same PIN for all of your accounts. (See “How to Create Strong Passwords” for more tips.)
Protecting your personal information is important and having secure PINs you can remember is a big part of that. In this age where business and life are being conducted more and more online, it’s necessary to be as vigilant in your activities online as you would be in the real world. Good password and PIN behavior and diligence managing your accounts is the best thing you can do to protect yourself. If you suspect an account might have been hacked, please read this article for a checklist of what to do: “Tips to Avoid Identity Theft Online.” And for any questions about your Softcom account security or help with passwords give us a call at (800) 982-7675 or 1 (888) 4-SOFTCOM, we’re here to help.
FAQs
TIP #1: Don't be obvious.
Never use basic combinations such as “1234” or “9876” and also avoid using numbers such as your house address, birthdays, or anniversaries. TIP #2: Use the word method. PINs are numbers, but it can make it much easier to remember yours if you associate it with a word.
How to choose a good PIN number? ›
Like most PINs or codes you may have it's best to avoid choosing a PIN that contains repeating characters (4444) or digits in a sequential order (1234). It's also safer to choose a PIN that no one could easily guess or numbers that represent publically researchable information such as DOB, postcode, or similar.
How to remember PIN number? ›
Here are a few tips to help you memorize your four-digit pin code:
- Repeat it to yourself several times. The more you repeat it, the more likely you are to remember it.
- Associate it with something memorable. ...
- Use a mnemonic device. ...
- Write it down and keep it in a safe place. ...
- Don't share it with anyone.
If you use a password generator, you may also want to create a mnemonic device to make the password easier to remember. For example, H=jNp2# could be remembered as HARRY = jessica NORTH paris 2 #. This may still feel pretty random, but with a bit of practice it becomes relatively easy to memorize.
What is a good 4-digit PIN number? ›
Safety in randomness
“Statistically, 8068 is the safest PIN,” says Tyler Moffitt, senior threat research analyst at Webroot. “Other good numbers are 7637, 6835, and 9629.
Can I create my own PIN? ›
You can create your own Pins by uploading images or videos from your computer or mobile device. Plus, with the Pinterest camera tools available in the app, you can record videos and take new photos too. In addition to creating Pins with your own images and videos, you can save images you find online as Pins .
What should you avoid while selecting a PIN number? ›
Card Security and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs)
Short, basic PINs are advised against, such as using "123" or numbers that would be easy to guess in instances of fraud; common information, such as an account holder's birthday, marriage anniversary, or Social Security Number.
What is the strongest 4-digit password? ›
A: The hardest 4-digit password is 8068. It is one of the strongest numeric passwords available. Other commonly used 4-digit passwords are 1234, 0000, and 2580. To create the strongest 4-digit password, experts recommend combining numbers, symbols, and capital letters for a secure password that is difficult to guess.
What is the strongest 6-digit password? ›
There is no “hardest” 6-digit password. Since you specified digits, there are exactly 1,000,000 possible passwords (from “000000” to “999999”), for about 20 bits of entropy. This is insufficient unless there are other strong methods (such as increasing lock-out times) used to prevent guessing attempts.
What is a secure PIN? ›
A security pin is a modified version of a driver or key pin in a pin-tumbler lock that makes manipulation more difficult. Security pins are commonly designed to prevent lockpicking, but are also designed to resist decoding, impressioning, key bumping, and other compromise techniques.
A 9- or 12-digit PIN is more secure than a 4-digit number. If you can, include symbols, letters and varied punctuation. Experts recommend changing your PIN at least twice a year. This helps keep your accounts safe!
What is the security PIN code? ›
In mobile devices, the PIN acts like a password preventing other people from gaining unauthorized access to your device. This is a numeric code which must be entered each time the device is started (unless the PIN security feature is turned off).
What is a popular mnemonic example? ›
Mnemonics are used in remembering guitar string names in standard tuning.
- Every Average Dude Gets Better Eventually.
- Eggs Are Deliciously Good Breakfast Energy.
- Eddy Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddy.
- Every Adult Dog Growls Barks Eats.
- Every Acid Dealer Gets Busted Eventually.
- Even After Dinner Giant Boys Eat.
The most popular password is 1234.
It was found more often than the lowest 4,200 codes combined. The second most popular 4-digit PIN is 1111 at almost 6% (204,000).
How to create a passphrase? ›
Create a passphrase by taking a short phrase and: • Change the capitalization of some of the letters • Replace some of the letters with numerical and symbolic substitutions ($ for S, 8 for B) Misspell or abbreviate some words (E.g., the phrase “iced tea is great for summer” becomes “! cedTisgr84$umm3R”.)
What is the safest 4-digit PIN? ›
The safest 4-digit PIN is '8068' — or at least it was, until researchers at Data Genetics told everyone this week. The researchers there went through a set of 3.4 million four-digit personal identification numbers and found "8068" came up only 25 times.
What is the safest 6 digit PIN? ›
What is a strong 6-Digit PIN?
- No repeated numbers/sequence (111111, 112233, 121212, 123123, 123456, etc)
- No easily guessed pattern on key pad, refer to below examples:
