How to Select the Best Pin for Your Security Alarm
Protecting your home is important, if someone enters your house uninvited, they will trip a sensor, which sets off an alarm and will alert our monitoring station. Not only do you have the peace of mind knowing your home is protected when you own a monitored alarm, you also have the peace of mind knowing your system needs a pin to be disarmed.
If someone was to enter your home, the first thing they do is try to disarm your security system. Having a challenging pin adds that extra layer of protection, making it that bit more difficult for an intruder to gain access without setting off the alarm.
We are here to help you choose the best PIN for that extra level of safety, here are some tips.
Picking an Alarm Pin
You will use your pin multiple times a day, it is a good idea to pick a four-digit code that might mean something to you (nothing too easy) such as an old address or a friend’s phone number. Make sure it is complex enough an intruder would have difficulty guessing, but simple enough that you can remember.
Keep your pin different than other passwords you use on a daily basis, like your bank card. You do not need to use the same pin for your mobile and your HomeSecure alarm. If someone was to steal your phone or gain access to your mobile, it gives them an opportunity to use that same passcode in the HomeSecure App. This will give the thief the ability to access your alarm and even disarm it.
Most Common Four Digit Codes
Most people decide to pick a common pin because it is easy to remember. Doing this gives an intruder an easier chance to guess. Do not pick easy dates like a birthday or an event. This allows the burglar to have 2 out of the 4 digits of the code. Using dates is synonymous with years and they usually begin with ’19’ or ‘20’, this increases the burglars’ chance of success in the pin guessing game. Even though there are 10 thousand different pins that can be made from 0-9, 11% of us opt for the same ones. The most common of these is 1234, here are the top ten and probably the ones that are best NOT to use (Datagenetics, 2012).
Some Extra Tips
It is best not to write down your pin and leave it in an obvious place. Some people leave their WIFI code beside their WI-FI box. In this instance if you are writing down your pin to remember it, leave it as far away from the system as you can and not in a very evident place.
It is good practice to change your pin regularly, especially if you think it may have been compromised. It is important layer of your home’s security. If you would like to change your pin on your system, you can contact our HomeSecure customer service department on 01 495 7070 or email [email protected].