Security questions....

[flick]

Apple just made me answer three out of five security questions, for my iTunes account.

I really hope that I never need them: I didn't actually know the answer to more than two of them, and it wouldn't let me put the same answer in for all of them....

Comments

[redbird]

I have some where I have just put the same random thing (not just from question to question, but site to site). The post office recently demanded several for me to set up an account for their click-and-ship system (use your computer to pay for shipping packages, and print your own label; saves a few cents and possibly time). I didn't want to give them my mother's maiden name, so I have written down what I told it my favorite food is. (Of course, ideally I would be keeping the passwords and the security questions in different places, but I'm not nearly that organized.)

[alex-holden.livejournal.com]

I hate it when they ask questions that are too vague or can be answered multiple ways, e.g. who was your best friend as a child? Do you mean before or after I fell out with Bob Smith at age twelve and three quarters?

[nils.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I wasn't impressed with their choice of questions. I managed to pick a question I think I can replicate the answer to for each of the three, but it wasn't easy.

[darth-tigger.livejournal.com]

Some banks (like First Direct) let you pick your own questions. Lucy Porter has a brilliant take on this:

I went to the bank and they told me I needed a security question for telephone banking. I asked if there was a list to choose from and they said no, I could pick any question. So now it's great, whenever I call the bank the person on the other end has to ask me "You're not going out dressed like that are you?" and I reply "You can't tell me what to do, you're not my real dad!"

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

Quite. I am furious with it. What was my first car? Well, what part of the car? The colour, the reg, the model? And was the first one the one I shared with a boyfriend that he already owned when we got together, or the first one we bought together, or the first one I bought off him when we split up, or the one I bought for myself directly just a couple of years ago? And every single question was ambiguous like that to the point of me being unlikely to give the correct answer on two consecutive weeks.

[shuripentu.livejournal.com]

I recommend using a secure password management system, which allows you to choose security answers that are at least as strong as the password they can be used as a substitute for, without having to remember them yourself. :)