Urgent warning over the 4-digit PINs that could put you at risk of a cyberattack

People have been warned about the four-digit PIN numbers used that could increase the risk of you being targeted in a cyber attack.

One of the easiest ways for hackers and thieves to target you is to steal money from your bank account using a PIN, so a unique PIN is a must.

PINs are also often used to lock phones, safes, and lockers. If your PIN is common enough for someone to guess, these things can also be at risk of theft, as well.

Analysis by Nick Berry at DataGenetics calculated the most common PINs, with the top ten most common PINs following patterns that you should avoid to remain secure.

The most common PIN was 1234. Beyond that, it is repeated numbers that one should avoid using. PINs like 7777, 1111, or 0000 are easily guessable.

Other patterns, such as birthdays, are less risky but should also be avoided. Birth years should also be avoided, with 2000 making the ten most frequent codes and 2001 in the top 20.

According to Mr Berry, the 20 most common PINs made up just over a quarter (26.8%) of the 3.4 million PINs used for analysis.

The least used PIN was 8068, only seen 25 times across the millions of PINs. The 20 least common PINs have few distinguishable patterns and none begin with the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.