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Pin Selection & Security

hank
edited June 2021 in Other Investing
After depositing $10 (as a test) from my bank into a new Fido cash management account, I received in the mail a fancy looking Visa debit card with instructions to go to their website and create a pin. This whole PIN process strikes me as archaec and less-than-secure by today’s standards. 4-digit pins were the standard as far back as 1980 when Michigan’s NBD issued me my first debit card. Can’t we do better?

Here’s a story about the easiest to guess (20 most common) Pin Codes / Hint: Don’t choose 1234.

Comments

  • msf
    Unfortunately, users “exhibit a staggering lack of imagination and select very predictable numbers,” reports The Guardian. Three very simple combinations — 1234, 1111 and 0000 — account for 18.6 percent of all PINs in use.
  • hank
    edited June 2021
    LOL - Wonder if 54321 would be better?

    The “Speed of Light” would be cool. But how to express that in 4 digits?
  • carew388carew388
    +1 1860 wouldn't work for Speed of Light. One possibility is to use the 4 digit year your college was founded, although I suppose that information could be discovered by hackers/scammers !
  • Sven
    I have accounts that require changes every 30 days. That is when I use Apple keychain for these accounts.
  • CrashCrash
    edited June 2021
    Debit card. ATM card. Yes, the credit union issues them to me/us. We never, ever use them. Required PIN? I match the phone keypad letters and numbers to my son's first name, which is 4 letters. Handy.
    ...Unconnected, but maybe related: so, suddenly, for no reason, the internet stopped. The account is in the name of my housemate, not me. The Rectum-Spectrum internet (and cable) provider says that someone hacked the account and was using "our" internet and cable without paying. So Rectum-Spectrum cut off service to OUR house, until they catch the hacker. You can bet Rectum-Spectrum will not voluntarily reduce the monthly bill, next month.
    Blame the victim. That's what I always say. There ya go. Words to live by, eh? Bullshit! So, some criminal asshole is doing an illegal thing..... And WE have to pay the price. Welcome to corporate America. ... My niece figured out how to make my wife's phone provide internet service to my laptop. That's how I'm able to type this and send it. But it's no good unless my wife is at home. Looking at her go through the process, it occurred to me that laptop designers have intentionally made EVERYTHING as hard to find and as hard to do as possible. "Where do we find that particular setting? How do we identify it?" ...Just look under "E" for "Everything Else." Then GUESS at what you need. Cripes.
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