Change Your PIN Code Now If It’s On This List
Update: May 26, 2025 - This story, originally published May 24, has been updated with a brief history of PIN codes, information regarding the most secure codes you can use and why 8068 really isn’t the safest number despite the claims of some security experts. It also now contains a list of passwords that must be avoided at all costs.
Change your PIN code now if it is on this list. Passwords are under attack, that’s a given. Whether it’s from initial access malware looking to open up networks for ransomware attacks, public databases containing hundreds of millions of stolen plaintext credentials, or state-sponsored threat actors with spying on their minds. Nobody can say they are unaware of the dangers of weak or reused passwords, but what about your PIN code? Yes, those four digits that are used when unlocking your smartphone and all the valuable data it provides instant access to.
Do Not Use These 50 PIN Codes
PIN codes are not, let’s face it, the most secure means of restricting access to your valuable smartphone. Yet they are used to lock your SIM card and the device itself. They underpin, if you’ll excuse the pun, the biometrics that you rely upon to gain quick and safe access to your iPhone or Android when you are out and about, and are required under certain circumstances, whether you have fingerprint or facial recognition enabled.
The following PIN codes should be avoided at all costs:
- 2025
- 8068
- 6835
- 7637
- 8093
- 9629
This list is not exhaustive, and it's always best to use a combination of random numbers instead. The more digits the better, as long as they are not repeated within the code itself.
The Most Secure PIN Codes To Use In 2025
Random is always best, unless you are choosing from a very small base pool to begin with, as is the case with four-digit PIN numbers. The answer to the question, therefore, is to increase the pool and increase the odds in your favor. To do this, simply stop using four-digit PINs altogether and start using six-digit or even ten-digit ones.
Interestingly, there’s an international standard for PIN code management in financial services, ISO 9564-1, and this allows for PINs of up to 12 digits. However, it recommends six as being the longest deployment for reasons of usability. This is why many online services and apps require a six-digit PIN as a backup user verification method rather than the more common four-digit ones we see employed on lock screens.
Opt to use a password instead of a PIN number to lock your phone, and just employ numbers instead of characters. You can then have a custom-made PIN code that is both much harder to guess or crack, while remaining easy enough to remember.
The Most Secure Passwords To Use In 2025
A combination of research into the most commonly used passwords that have been found in data breach databases for personal and enterprise use, as well as being analyzed on a geographical basis, has produced a list of dangerous passwords to avoid. Check your credentials against these lists immediately.
For more information on the most secure PIN codes and passwords to use in 2025, head over to the original article for the full picture.