Secret questions
Mar. 16th, 2012 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I just set up an an account on the website for one of our utilities, so I had my password program generate a nice strong password for the site.
Then it asked me to answer one of the following "secret questions," which can be used to reset my password if I forget it.
I hate these things. Half of them ask for things like your hometown and your mother's maiden name, either of which could be easily gleaned from my Facebook account.
Here are the questions this site asked. It made me curious: how many of them can you answer ABOUT ME? I feel like there are a lot of people out there who could answer some of these questions correctly.
Then it asked me to answer one of the following "secret questions," which can be used to reset my password if I forget it.
I hate these things. Half of them ask for things like your hometown and your mother's maiden name, either of which could be easily gleaned from my Facebook account.
Here are the questions this site asked. It made me curious: how many of them can you answer ABOUT ME? I feel like there are a lot of people out there who could answer some of these questions correctly.
- Where is your favorite vacation spot?
- What is the name of your first pet?
- What is the last name of your best friend?
- What is the title of your favorite book?
- What is the name of your first school?
- What is your favorite food?
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Date: 2012-03-16 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 08:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 10:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-17 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-18 04:26 am (UTC)FASCINATING
NO IT IS NORMAL TO TAKE NOTES ON DATES WHERE I AM FROM
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Date: 2012-03-18 02:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-17 04:49 am (UTC)P.S. I'm your mum.
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Date: 2012-03-18 04:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-18 02:29 pm (UTC)Charles says there have been internet studies showing that these questions are horribly broken and are by far the easiest way to hack into an account. As a result, he has "pretend" answers for all the questions they could possibly ask. Unfortunately, he can't remember his pretend answers, so he often locks himself out of things. That and the fact that he can't remember how to spell his mother's actual maiden name.
I tend to do something similar - I don't list my ACTUAL last school attended, or my ACTUAL first pet. I list *a* school attended and *a* pet, which is still insecure.
I had to phone the bank to reset my credentials recently (because I unexpectedly logged in from work, and it wasn't the IP address they were used to, so they flagged me as possibly-hacked... not sure whether I appreciate the overzealousness or if I just find it irritating). When she asked me for a memorable date, she was taken aback that the date wasn't within my lifetime. What's the point of having a memorable date if you can probably guess two, maybe three digits of the year?
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Date: 2012-03-17 05:19 am (UTC)For example give the first name when it asks for the last. Or the state if it asks for a city.
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Date: 2012-03-18 02:33 pm (UTC)