Cracking Your PIN Code: Easy as 1-2-3-4

[Hum]

If you lost your ATM card on the street, how easy would it be for someone to correctly guess your PIN and proceed to clean out your savings account? Quite easy, according to data scientist Nick Berry, founder of Data Genetics, a Seattle technology consultancy.

Berry analyzed passwords from previously released and exposed tables and security breaches, filtering the results to just those that were exactly four digits long [0-9]. There are 10,000 possible combinations that the digits 0-9 can be arranged into to form a four-digit code. Berry analyzed those to find which are the least and most predictable. He speculates that, if users select a four-digit password for an online account or other web site, it's not a stretch to use the same number for their four-digit bank PIN codes.

What he found, he says, was a "staggering lack of imagination" when it comes to selecting passwords. Nearly 11% of the 3.4 million four-digit passwords he analyzed were 1234. The second most popular PIN in is 1111 (6% of passwords), followed by 0000 (2%). (Last year SplashData compiled a list of the most common numerical and word-based passwords and found that "password" and "123456" topped the list.)

Berry says a whopping 26.83% of all passwords could be guessed by attempting just 20 combinations of four-digit numbers (see first table). "It's amazing how predictable people are," he says.

We don't like hard-to-remember numbers and "no one thinks their wallet will get stolen," Berry says.

Many of the commonly used passwords are, of course, dates: birthdays, anniversaries, year of birth, etc. Indeed, using a year, starting with 19__, helps people remember their code, but it also increases its predictability, Berry says. His analysis shows that every single 19__ combination be found in the top 20% of the dataset.

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[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Seriously, how hard is it to randomly press 4 numbers and remember it?

[Astra.Xtreme]

Not really anything to be worried about unless the PIN actually is 1234, 1111, or 0000. You only get a couple tries before the ATM eats the card, so chances are the code won't be cracked in any timely manner.

[Pupik]

Is this USA based only, or are there crazy banks in other countries that don't have a security feature on the ATMs that just "eats" the card if you input the wrong pin three times and the only way to get the card back is to go to the bank?

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

In the UK and most of mainland Europe I know it gives you 3 attempts before it noms your card!

[Draconian Guppy]

Not really anything to be worried about unless the PIN actually is 1234, 1111, or 0000. You only get a couple tries before the ATM eats the card, so chances are the code won't be cracked in any timely manner.

Only old ATMS eat the cards, the new ones are swipe only. However most block the card after 3 attempts.

[Wakers]

True funny / sad story.

My secondary bank, Barclays, sent me a new debit card a couple of months after the last big article came online about the poor choice of pin codes that people were using.

Do you know the random code they sent me with the new card? 1986. Not only did it commit the mistake of starting with 19, but it also happened to be my year of birth. They got a very sarcastic email from me praising their competence and linking back to the online report.

They apoligised, at least.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Berry says a whopping 26.83% of all passwords could be guessed by attempting just 20 combinations of four-digit numbers

That's terrible, but most cards only allow you three attempts before blocking, don't they? Which means that out of those 20 combinations you only have 3 attempts, which is...a 15% (I was never good at maths) chance of cracking a card that uses one of those 20 combinations?

[Soldiers33]

exactly what I was going to say. it doesnt take a genius to realize its easy to guess wheny ou have unlimited tries, but as we have here in UK 2 incorrect attempt and card is gone.

[Azusa]

you'd need some form of cutting tool and a battery cause only my right hand knows my pin.

[Soldiers33]

i meant 3 sorry.

[neufuse Veteran]

Only old ATMS eat the cards, the new ones are swipe only. However most block the card after 3 attempts.

all the new ATM's around me you still have to put your card into it and it takes it until you are done... and these are brand new systems

[Pupik]

you'd need some form of cutting tool and a battery cause only my right hand knows my pin.

My pin code for my card is 6834. Now come and try to get the card from me (it's valid until 07/13, so take your time).

[Hum]

you'd need some form of cutting tool and a battery cause only my right hand knows my pin.

^ I have no idea what that means. Biometrics ... ?

Besides the 3 times limit, what about the security camera taking your picture ?

Unless it's winter and you are bundled up, someone is going to know your face.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

unless you are like my bank and if you mess up your pin 4 times they lock you out for 24 hours, mess it up 2 days in a row and you are locked out for a month, lock it out after that and they kill your card and ship you a new one.

[n_K]

Berry says a whopping 26.83% of all passwords could be guessed by attempting just 20 combinations of four-digit numbers (see first table). "It's amazing how predictable people are," he says.

This guy obviously doesn't have a clue how smart cards (bank cards) work then, they're pretty similiar to SIM cards in that you have 3 attempts to input the correct pin, the bank machine transmits the PIN to the card, if it is wrong, it is not the bank machine that logs it but the smart card, after 3 wrong attempts, the smart card refuses to accept any more pin numbers and locks itself out (there is no PUK code for bank cards as there are SIM cards) and so the machine keeps it. Older cards would just refuse to accept any more PIN attempts but keep all the data in the smart card, newer cards destroy all data on the card when 3 attempts have been failed, because you can in theory reset the count or read off the data using a very powerful microscope though you'd have to know exactly where to look.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Besides the 3 times limit, what about the security camera taking your picture ?

Unfortunately: myth! I had my card cloned. Long story with people saying it can't be done, it's never done - oh look it's been done. Basically my bank trying to find any reason to pin the 4 * ?50 withdrawals on me (4 spots around London, on a day I could prove I was in Leicester). I got the police involved (even though my bank tried to convince me otherwise and take the ?200 hit myself). I knew nobody would be caught/arrested but point of calling police involvement was to call the banks bluff. Anyway, police told me that there are no cameras in the majority of ATMs.

[Draconian Guppy]

all the new ATM's around me you still have to put your card into it and it takes it until you are done... and these are brand new systems

Yay! I guess that's one for Honduras, Central America :p

So we have poverty, bad public health care, education, insecurity, no value of life ( eg. getting shot for cellphone)... But we have swiping only ATMS :p

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I'd not put my card anywhere near that machine. The plastic bezel on the front looks so fake and "stuck-on", like one of the "skimmers" that people use over here.

Not saying it is, but it looks it.

[Brian M. Veteran]

Unfortunately: myth! I had my card cloned. Long story with people saying it can't be done, it's never done - oh look it's been done. Basically my bank trying to find any reason to pin the 4 * ?50 withdrawals on me (4 spots around London, on a day I could prove I was in Leicester). I got the police involved (even though my bank tried to convince me otherwise and take the ?200 hit myself). I knew nobody would be caught/arrested but point of calling police involvement was to call the banks bluff. Anyway, police told me that there are no cameras in the majority of ATMs.

I had a similar issue with Lloyds TSB - had my card "cloned" and spent in France. Bank told me outright that they were not responsible, and I must have given my PIN to someone. I complained to the FSA, who found that Lloyds had authorised the transactions on my cloned card without chip and pin (when they got the signature from the retailer, it was actually an exact copy of mine from the card, but I could prove I wasn't in France at that time), and made Lloyds pay out the ?150, plus ?140 odd in compensation for my time.

In my opinion, the fact that it's been proven many times that the PIN can be bypassed easily is more worrying than people using common PIN codes.

[Azusa]

on the topic of safety at the ATM am I the only one who looks for a bank that has them inside before using an ATM?

[Draconian Guppy]

The first image is a "sorta" of close up of the second, if you can see, they're not the same, the one we have is the second one, I just needed something that pointed out the "swiping" part :p

Not all our banks have these though, a couple still have the "insert and eat" type.

on the topic of safety at the ATM am I the only one who looks for a bank that has them inside before using an ATM?

In third world hell, I just avoid them, unless I really, really have too :s

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

In my opinion, the fact that it's been proven many times that the PIN can be bypassed easily is more worrying than people using common PIN codes.

It's part of the spec, the ability to bypass - it's a "fallback option" but thus negates all security. However, the onus of responsibility for the chargeback is placed on the terminal/merchant.

[Anibal P]

Not sure what Banks you all use, mine USAA locks you out of the online side after 3 errors same as with an ATM, then it takes a phone call to unlock either, stopped trying to enter passwords while not fully awake

[xendrome]

all the new ATM's around me you still have to put your card into it and it takes it until you are done... and these are brand new systems

All of the Bank of America ATM's here were recently changed to where you put the card in and it spits it back out right away, then you enter your pin. I think it is to stop people from forgetting to 1: Press "Done' and 2: Leaving their cards behind.

And if the person drives away now before pressing done, and they request any other transaction they have to re-put their pin number back in.