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Encyclopedia > Personal Identification Number

PINs are most often used for ATMs but are increasingly used at the Point of sale, especially for debit cards. Throughout Europe the traditional in-store credit card signing process is being replaced with a system where the customer is asked to enter their PIN instead of signing. In the UK and Ireland this goes under the term 'Chip and PIN', since PINs were introduced at the same time as EMV chips on the cards. In other parts of the world, PINs have been used before the introduction of EMV. An NCR Personas 85-Series interior, multi-function ATM in the USA An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine (ATM) is a computerised telecommunications device that provides a financial institutions customers a method of financial transactions in a public space without the need for a human clerk or... POS must not be confused with EFT/POS and POS Terminal used in Electronic payment POS or PoS is an acronym for point-of-sale (or point of purchase). ... This article needs cleanup. ... Chip and PIN is the name of a government-backed initiative in the United Kingdom to implement the EMV standard for secure payments. ... It has been suggested that Chip and PIN be merged into this article or section. ...


In 2006, James Goodfellow, the inventor of the personal identification number, was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.[1] For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The honours system of the United Kingdom is a means of rewarding personal bravery, achievement or service to the country. ...

Contents

PIN Security

PINs are often 4-digit numbers in the range 0000-9999, resulting in 10,000 possible numbers. Many PIN verification systems allow three attempts, thereby giving a card thief a 1/3000 chance to guess the correct PIN before the card is blocked. This holds only if all PINs are equally likely and the attacker has no further information available, which has not been the case with some of the many PIN generation and verification algorithms that banks and ATM manufacturers have used in the past.[2] Mobile phones usually allow the user to enter PIN between 4 and 8 digits length.


In 2002 two PhD students at Cambridge University, Piotr Zieliński and Mike Bond, discovered a security flaw in the PIN generation system of the IBM 3624, which was duplicated in most later hardware. Known as the decimalization table attack, the flaw would allow someone who has access to a bank's computer system to determine the PIN for an ATM card in an average of 15 guesses.[3][4] For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. ... Mike Bond is an American novelist, war and human rights journalist, and poet. ... IBM 3624 units were manufactured in Charlotte, NC until all ATM operations were sold to Diebold. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...


In 2006 two researchers Omer Berkman and Odelia Moshe Ostrovsky, discovered several security flaws in the PIN processing standards. Published under the title The Unbearable Lightness of PIN Cracking, the flaw would allow someone who has access to a bank's computer system to determine the PIN for an ATM card in as little as one guess, and to attack bank customers of other banks.[5] For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...


English language usage

The term "PIN number" (hence "personal identification number number") is commonly used, which is an example of RAS syndrome (Redundant Acronym Syndrome). PINs are often 4-digit numbers in the range 0000-9999, resulting in 10,000 possible numbers. Many PIN verification systems allow three attempts, thereby giving a card thief a 1/3000 chance to guess the correct PIN before the card is blocked. This holds only if all PINs are equally likely and the attacker has no further information available, which has not been the case with some of the many PIN generation and verification algorithms that banks and ATM manufacturers have used in the past.[2] Mobile phones usually allow the user to enter PIN between 4 and 8 digits length. RAS syndrome (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome) is a common tendency to use one of the words which make up an acronym or initialism as well as the abbreviation itself, thus in effect repeating that word. ...


Reverse PIN hoax

Main article: ATM Safety PIN Software

Rumours have been in e-mail circulation claiming that in the event of entering a PIN into an ATM machine backwards, police will be instantly alerted as well as money being ordinarily issued as if the PIN had been entered correctly.[6] The intention of this scheme would be to protect victims of muggings; however, despite the system being proposed for use in some American states, there are no ATMs currently in existence that employ the software. Invented by Joseph Zingher, (http://atmsafetypin. ... Invented by Joseph Zingher, (http://atmsafetypin. ...


See also

Invented by Joseph Zingher, (http://atmsafetypin. ... TAN is an acronym formed from the phrase Transaction Authentication Number. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

References

  1. ^ Royal honour for inventor of Pin. BBC (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
  2. ^ Kuhn, Markus (July 1997). "Probability theory for pickpockets — ec-PIN guessing" (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
  3. ^ Zieliński, P & Bond, M (February 2003). "Decimalisation table attacks for PIN cracking" (PDF). University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
  4. ^ Media coverage. University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
  5. ^ Berkman, O & Ostrovsky, O (November 2006). "The Unbearable Lightness of PIN Cracking" (PDF). Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
  6. ^ Reverse PIN Panic Code. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.

  Results from FactBites:
 
Personal identification number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (301 words)
A personal identification number (PIN) is a numeric value (sometimes expressed as text using the standard telephone dial mapping) that is used in certain systems to gain access, and authenticate.
PINs are (ideally) only known by the person whose PIN it is, and are sufficiently hard to guess.
The PIN should be such that a person or computer cannot guess it in sufficient time by using a guess and check method, where it guesses the PIN, and checks for correctness by testing it on the system that the person is attempting to gain access to.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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