Have you ever been on the phone with customer service and when they asked you for your Secure PIN, you totally blanked out? You鈥檙e not alone. While passwords take the main stage when it comes to accessing accounts and security, PINs are important too. These short and sweet codes are an important part of protecting your private information, but many people find them hard to keep track of. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e sharing these pointers for creating and remembering effective PINs.
What is a PIN?
First, let鈥檚 discuss what is the difference between a password and a PIN. A PIN, short for Personal Identification Number, is a numerical code set up to allow you to authenticate your identity and allow access to secure accounts such as banking, credit cards, or cell phones. In this era where identity theft and computer fraud has become prevalent, many people make the mistake of creating overly complicated or random PINs when they first set up an account, causing headaches down the road when it鈥檚 time to access them later.
How to create a secure PIN
TIP #1: Don鈥檛 be obvious. When it comes to creating a secure PIN, the first tip is to avoid the obvious. Never use basic combinations such as 鈥1234鈥 or 鈥9876鈥 and also avoid using numbers such as your house address, birthdays, or anniversaries.
TIP #2: Use the word method. PINs are numbers, but it can make it much easier to remember yours if you associate it with a word. Look at your phone keypad, choose a 4-letter word, and see what number coordinates with that word. For instance, the word 鈥淪AFE鈥 would be 鈥7233.鈥 If you use this method, it鈥檚 best to use a less common word that鈥檚 unlikely to be guessed by someone.
TIP #3: Dates will work too. If words don鈥檛 work for you, it鈥檚 ok to select a date as your PIN, just make sure it鈥檚 not easy to guess. Ideas include things like first date anniversaries, the day you adopted your pet, or a mishmash of your kid鈥檚 or parent鈥檚 birthdays.
TIP #4: Store it safely. If you really want to be safe, you can create a very random, extra-long PIN and store it securely. To keep track of it, you can use a secure tool to store and manage passwords, such as or . This is also helpful for keeping track of different PINs for different accounts. Just like with creating strong passwords, it鈥檚 never a good idea to use the same PIN for all of your accounts. (See 鈥How to Create Strong Passwords鈥 for more tips.)
Protecting your personal information is important and having secure PINs you can remember is a big part of that. In this age where business and life are being conducted more and more online, it鈥檚 necessary to be as vigilant in your activities online as you would be in the real world. Good password and PIN behavior and diligence managing your accounts is the best thing you can do to protect yourself. If you suspect an account might have been hacked, please read this article for a checklist of what to do: 鈥Tips to Avoid Identity Theft Online.鈥 And for any questions about your 乐播传媒 account security or help with passwords give us a call at (800) 982-7675 or 1 (888) 4-SOFTCOM, we鈥檙e here to help.