[HN Gopher] Most common PIN codes (2012)
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Most common PIN codes (2012)
        
       Author : dhotson
       Score  : 80 points
       Date   : 2024-05-14 20:22 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.datagenetics.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.datagenetics.com)
        
       | arp242 wrote:
       | Actual article:
       | http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/september32012/index.html
       | 
       | Should be changed to this, rather than screenshot + link
       | blogspam.
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Ok, we've changed the url from
         | https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/most-commo...
         | to that. Thanks!
        
       | iNic wrote:
       | I think the least common PIN codes are fascinating. I'm surprised
       | by the number of 7s in these. They looks like numbers you would
       | end up with if you asked someone to think of a random 4 digit
       | number.
       | 
       | List transcribed by ChatGPT: 8557, 8438, 9539, 7063, 6827, 0859,
       | 6793, 0738, 6835, 8093, 9047, 0439, 8196, 6693, 7394, 9480, 8398,
       | 7637, 9629, 8068.
        
       | bdangubic wrote:
       | not a single least common pin contains all prime number which is
       | interesting
        
         | mulmen wrote:
         | I think the venn diagram of "people who find primes
         | interesting" and "people who understand password security" is
         | pretty close to a circle.
        
         | gmiller123456 wrote:
         | 3,5,7 line up on the diagonal, leaving 2 as the only other
         | prime. So people using physical patters are likely to choose
         | them. Not to mention any mathematically inclined person may
         | also choose all primes.
        
       | Osiris wrote:
       | Quick, we should all use the least common pin numbers.
       | 
       | I switched my passwords to correct-horse-battery-staple and now
       | I'm super secure.
        
         | LastMuel wrote:
         | I'm using correct-horce-battery-staple to fool those pesky kids
         | with dictionaries.
        
           | rufus_foreman wrote:
           | l337 converter gives: c0rr3c7-h0r53-b4773ry-574pl3.
        
       | SushiHippie wrote:
       | Previous discussion:
       | 
       | Most to least common 4-digit PIN numbers from an analysis of 3.4M
       | - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40306374 - (56 points, 18
       | comments, 5 days ago)
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Thanks! Macroexpanded:
         | 
         |  _Most to least common 4-digit PIN numbers from an analysis of
         | 3.4M_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40306374 - May
         | 2024 (19 comments)
         | 
         |  _Statistical Analysis of PIN Numbers (2012)_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11365962 - March 2016 (1
         | comment)
         | 
         |  _The 20 most common PIN numbers_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11230045 - March 2016 (1
         | comment)
         | 
         |  _PIN analysis (2012)_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11228319 - March 2016 (1
         | comment)
         | 
         |  _Analysis of bank PIN numbers_ -
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4535417 - Sept 2012 (111
         | comments)
         | 
         | (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40306374 didn't get any
         | frontpage time so we won't treat current post as a dupe)
        
       | jakub_g wrote:
       | Side note: DataGenetics has been my favorite blog in mid-2010s.
       | Lots of great posts:
       | 
       | http://www.datagenetics.com/blog.html
        
       | jagged-chisel wrote:
       | Glad to know my choice of code is relatively unused I guess
        
       | thr0waway001 wrote:
       | 6969
        
       | karaterobot wrote:
       | Looks like my PIN code, 4968, is pretty secure. I recommend using
       | that one if you aren't already.
        
         | Cerium wrote:
         | What is your pin code? All I see is ****.
        
       | withinboredom wrote:
       | Seeing my pin as one of the least common ... guess I need to
       | change my pin because they're about to be some of the most
       | common...
        
       | sys_64738 wrote:
       | I've change my PIN codes to use the least used ones now. Nobody
       | can guess them so I am very secure.
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | [dupe]
       | 
       | Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40306374
       | 
       | Some previous discussions on the 2012 source of the data
       | (http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/september32012/index.html)
       | 
       | 2018 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17670173
       | 
       | 2013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5124024
       | 
       | 2012 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4535417
        
       | r00dY wrote:
       | If we start picking the least popular pin codes they'll stop
       | being the least popular. What a tragedy
        
       | BLKNSLVR wrote:
       | Funny/stupid anecdote: a bunch of my kids' friends have the same
       | phone unlock PIN as me because I set my son's new phone PIN the
       | same as mine so he would also be able to unlock my phone if
       | necessary.
       | 
       | When his friends started getting phones as well, they copied his.
       | This has migrated through some of the friends' siblings as well.
        
       | dools wrote:
       | Not that many futurama fans in those data breaches ...
        
         | djbusby wrote:
         | 1077
        
       | linsomniac wrote:
       | Whenever I'm asked for a 4 digit PIN: `echo $[RANDOM%10000]`
        
       | davidw wrote:
       | Just needs an 'enter your PIN code to see how common it is!'.
        
       | esafak wrote:
       | 1234!? That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard in my
       | life! That's the kind of thing an idiot would have on his
       | luggage!
        
       | mmh0000 wrote:
       | I like that '1701' is lite up brightly in there... Please excuse
       | me while I go and change my PIN.
        
       | PlunderBunny wrote:
       | If this site did have a field where you could enter a pin to see
       | how common it was, you could make a really targeted phishing
       | attack by sending the link to someone whose pin you want to know,
       | then looking at what they click on or enter ("I'll just see how
       | good my pin is...")
        
       | dyingkneepad wrote:
       | TIL brute-forcing from 0000 to 9999 is a decent strategy.
        
       | posix86 wrote:
       | 61 pins are used by 1/3rd of all people. So statistically, if I
       | steal 61 debit cards, assuming I have 3 tries, and assuming
       | people choose their own pin, I should be able to get cash off one
       | in expectation.
        
       | NeoTar wrote:
       | I think the situation for actual PIN codes may be slightly better
       | than suggested; sometimes (in the UK at least) your bank will
       | assign you an initial PIN and I expect many people won't change
       | it, and by using a dump of passwords, you've probably captured
       | some people who have created throwaway accounts and chosen the
       | easiest possible password.
        
       | LouisSayers wrote:
       | My sister had a key lock box at home that she didn't know the
       | code for.
       | 
       | I had a look on YouTube and sure enough there was an easy way to
       | pick the lock.
       | 
       | The resulting code - 01234
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-05-14 23:00 UTC)