Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Passcodes Prove Predictable

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the ladies-love-alliteration dept.

mikejuk writes "Research reveals something we all suspected but couldn't prove — in a four digit pin the most popular first digit is one, the most popular second digit is two. Entropy only really kicks in on the third and fourth digits. What is more looking at the frequencies of four digit groups just 10 different passcodes would be enough to unlock one in seven iPhones!"

2 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Repost by swb · · Score: 4, Informative

    Isn't this a repost of the iPhone app developer who made the photo-graphing lock screen and kept anonymous stats of the "passcodes" people entered into his lock-screen-like lock screen?

  2. Otherwise known as... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Benford's law. If the data isn't truly random (and in the case of something someone chooses, it isn't), it probably applies.