• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Smartphone users warned over most commonly used and unsafe PIN numbers as yours may be on list

Home> News> Technology

Published 16:43 3 Jun 2024 GMT+1

Smartphone users warned over most commonly used and unsafe PIN numbers as yours may be on list

Some of the phone passwords on the list are more obvious than you'd think

Jess Battison

Jess Battison

No matter how in touch with ‘the real world’ we like to think we are, plenty of us are probably bigger slaves to our smartphones than we admit.

We keep all sorts on them. From our photos to our private messages and from our passwords to the shopping lists in our phone notes.

And yet we might not be protecting them as well as we thought.

Advert

Practically the lock on a safe, our smartphone PIN numbers are what looks after most of our stuff. Yeah, sure, most of us use the likes of Face ID on our iPhones and Face Unlock on Androids nowadays, but a passcode is still the failsafe.

However, researchers have warned of the most commonly used and unsafe combinations. And surprisingly, like banking PIN numbers, they don’t include the ‘rude’ combo of ‘6969’.

It's important to have a safe code. (Getty stock)
It's important to have a safe code. (Getty stock)

While you might think having a longer, six-digit PIN code will be more secure.

But a study from Ruhr University, the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy in Bochum, Germany and George Washington University in the US found that they offer ‘little more’ security than four-digits.

Advert

With the assumption the attacker didn’t personally know the victim, the researchers had Android and Apple users set PIN codes with some choosing them freely and others having to select ones not included in a ‘blacklist’.

The team then went through and hacked through the passcodes, finding that six digit PINs were actually ‘less secure’.

That’s because if users have more numbers to play with, they seem to be more likely to make insecure combos.

“It seems that users currently do not understand intuitively what it is that makes a six-digit PIN secure,” explained researcher Markus Dürmuth.

The study also found that while four and six-digit PIN codes aren’t as secure as a proper password, they are better than using a pattern lock.

Advert

And the researchers put together a handy list of the ‘most dangerous’ combinations.

Experts warn against certain codes. (Getty stock)
Experts warn against certain codes. (Getty stock)

Here’s the four-digit PINs to avoid:

· 1234

· 0000

Advert

· 2580

· 1111

· 5555

· 5683

· 0852

Advert

· 2222

· 1212

· 1998

And the six-digit PINs:

· 123456

· 654321

· 111111

· 000000

· 123123

· 666666

· 121212

· 112233

· 789456

· 159753

Yeah, some of those seem fairly obvious, right?

So, you might think using something like your date of birth is a more unique way of protecting your phone. But this could be risky considering people could find that out and use it to hack your device.

It’s highly recommended to instead use a password, consisting of both numbers and letters – but just don’t make that too obvious either.

Featured Image Credit: Getty stock image/Apple

Topics: Technology, Phones

Jess Battison
Jess Battison

Jess is a Senior Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include asking everyone in the office what they're having for tea, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021.

X

@jessbattison_

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Full list of iPhones Apple has now declared obsolete as yours might be on the ‘death list’
  • iPhone users warned over little orange dot at top of screen
  • Most commonly used and unsafe PIN numbers revealed and yours may be on list
  • iPhone and Android users warned over ‘evil twin’ attacks and how to stop them

Choose your content:

12 mins ago
25 mins ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • 12 mins ago

    Tragic update in case of skydiver who died after jumping 10,000ft from plane

    Jade Damarell died from 'blunt trauma' following the fateful skydive in April

    News
  • 25 mins ago

    Everything Kid Cudi shared about Diddy and Cassie as he took stand in trial

    Kid Cudi claimed that Diddy messaged and called him before setting his Porsche on fire

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Woman, 25, has 'life changed forever' after car accident leads to heartbreaking discovery

    Paige Myatt-Taylor was given a devastating diagnosis after being checked over following a car crash

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Kid Cudi says Diddy blew up his Porsche and ‘messed with his dog’ after finding out he was dating Cassie

    The rapper, real name Scott Mescudi, has taken to the stand to share his side of the story

    News