security questions

Peter Saint-Andre stpeter at stpeter.im
Wed Aug 6 12:45:21 EDT 2008


Chris Kuethe wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 8:23 AM, Peter Saint-Andre <stpeter at stpeter.im> wrote:
>> Wells Fargo is requiring their online banking customers to provide answers
>> to security questions such as these:
>>
>> ***
>> ...
>> ***
>>
>> It strikes me that the answers to many of these questions might be public
>> information or subject to social engineering attacks...
> 
> Lie.
> 
> I don't actually give the real answers to those questions for just
> that reason. Make up some plausible and memorable words (maybe using a
> tool like "yould"), and pick your mother a new random name from the
> phone book.

Oh, I know we're smart enough to do that, but I doubt that your typical 
Facebook user will realize that their high school and best friend's 
first name (etc.) are public information.

Peter
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