And the worst possible ATM passcode is—

With just 10,000 combinations to choose from, what could be the worst passcode for your automated teller machine (ATM) card?

 

If you answered 1234, you're right: it's the most popular passcode, such that an ATM card thief stands a 10.71-percent chance of accessing the owner's account.

 

"The most popular password is 1234. (I)t’s staggering how popular this password appears to be. Utterly staggering at the lack of imagination," data privacy firm DataGenetics said in a blog post.

 

It said 10.713 percent, or nearly 11 percent, of a set of 3.4 million passwords it analyzed used the passcode 1234.

 

Second on the list is 1111, used by 6.016 percent of users; third is 0000 (1.881 percent); 1212 (1.197 percent); 7777 (0.745 percent); 1004 (0.616 percent); 2000 (0.613 percent); 4444 (0.526 percent); 2222 (0.516 percent); 6969 (0.512 percent).

 

Placing 11th to 20th are: 9999 (0.451 percent); 3333 (0.419 percent); 5555 (0.395 percent); 6666 (0.391 percent); 1122 (0.366 percent); 1313 (0.304 percent); 8888 (0.303 percent); 4321 (0.293 percent); 2001 (0.290 percent); and 1010 (0.285 percent).

 

DataGenetics said 1984 is 26th while James Bond's number - 0007 is Number 23. The combination 2580 - straight down the middle of a phone keypad - is 22nd.

 

In contrast, the following are the 20 least popular combinations: 8557, 9047, 8438, 0439, 9539, 8196, 7063, 6093, 6827, 7394, 0859, 8957, 9480, 6793, 8398, 0738, 7637, 6835, 9629, 8093 —with the least popular combination being 8068.

 

However, DataGenetics warned against changing one's passcode to 8068, as hackers who read its blog post may now be on to that combination as well.

 

"Hackers can read too!" it said.

 

Meanwhile, an article on tech site Mashable said DataGenetics president Nick Berry explained the reason for 1004 ranking high in the list of popular ATM combinations.

 

"Berry points out that 1004 is popular with Korean users — because in Korean, the number sounds like the word for 'angel,'" it said. — TJD, GMA News