Unsafe smartphones: Top 20 codes and passwords to avoid to keep your phone safe

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Do you use a code to lock your smartphone? Here is the list of the twenty most used passwords that put your devices at risk, making them unsafe.

Unsafe smartphones: codes and passwords to avoid, the list

Unsafe smartphones? Only if you lock them with a too simple security code. The introduction of facial recognition and fingerprinting has certainly given users an extra security measure, but it is often still essential to enter the password using the number keypad. Inserting an unsafe one, perhaps because it is easy to remember, can represent a risk for our safety.

Our smartphone could be spied on or easily fall into the wrong hands: the list of 20 unsafe passwords was compiled by computer security expert Tarah Wheller. Using a secure PIN, which is not the usual 1234, is important and requires only an extra memory effort. Here are the passwords judged unsafe to lock your smartphone.

Unsafe smartphone: the 20 passwords to avoid

The list of 20 passwords to avoid was found by Wheeler on 26% of smartphones used by users all over the world. This means that one in four smartphones could be unlocked using one of the following codes which, apparently, are very much used by users.

Obviously, in the list we also find 1234 (the least secure password ever) alongside other very probable combinations:

  • 1 2 3 4
  • 1111
  • 0000
  • 1212
  • 7777
  • 1004
  • 2000
  • 4444
  • 2222
  • 6969
  • 9999
  • 3333
  • 5555
  • 6666
  • 1122
  • 1313
  • 8888
  • 4321
  • 2001
  • 1010

The codes in questions were disseminated through Tarah’s Twitter account, which called for more secure passwords to be set. As we can see from the list, there are codes that repeat a number four times, or a pair of two (1212, 1010) as well as the funny countdown that reverses the most used code ever, 4321.

What to do? If you have one of these codes to unlock your iPhone or your Android smartphone the best thing to do is immediately change the code, inserting a new, more articulated but at the same time easy to remember patterns. The option is at your own risk but if you have found your PIN in the list drawn up by Tarah Wheller you would do well to run for cover immediately.

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