From a recent news report
We all carry debit cards, credit cards and mobile phones, and most of these items require a four digit pin to unlock them. Shockingly, it appears that one in every 10 people uses the same pin – 1234.
Theoretically, there are 10,000 possible four-digit combinations the numbers 0 to 9 can be arranged into, and if everyone selected a number entirely at random that would offer a reasonable level of protection.
People, however, seem to exhibit a staggering lack of imagination and select very predictable numbers. This is probably because people choose numbers that are easy to remember, but this unoriginality leaves them vulnerable.
1234 accounts for 10.7% of all pins, followed by 1111 and 0000. Just these three combinations account for 18.6% of pins and the most common 20 combinations are responsible for more than a quarter of all pins in use.
Read the whole article here.
The most common pin numbers: is your bank account vulnerable? | Money | guardian.co.uk