50th Anniversary of the PIN: PIN-on-Glass & Next Steps

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the commercially used PIN Number. The venerable security method got its start in the very first paper-check based bank machines beginning in 1967, ushering in an age where 24-hour access to all types of data. Unfortunately, that also meant an age where all types of data are available to anyone able to get hold of your PIN number and other identifying information. Recent advances in criminal technology have led to PIN Skimmers and other devices that, for a time, may have put the PIN number on thin ice.

Fortunately, the long, proud, history of the PIN number hasn’t run out just yet, as new devices and technology have provided ways to combat criminal activity that will be very hard or impossible to overcome. Advances such as EMV cards, also known as Chip & PIN cards, require that an encrypted, non-duplicatable card be present in the machine that the PIN number is being entered into to work. Additionally, the ubiquity of touchscreen computers & SIM card based connectivity have brought the security of PIN on Glass technology, which can’t be hacked by skimmers or other add-on devices. Estone Tech’s MPOS-10 mobile point of sale tablet offers both methods of security in one rugged, simple package.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the venerable PIN number, we’ve compiled this brief history of the infamous four digits. Where will PIN security take us next?

PIN history in part from Edgar Dunn & Company Design.