What's the deal with password reminder questions??

Not to sound all Seinfeld, but what is the DEAL with password reminder questions? Dealing with a lot of travel nowadays, I find myself having to sign up for a ton of things in order to confirm reservations. I understand, in this day and age of being able to access formerly personal information such as mother’s maiden name, that the obvious questions might not work anymore. Some of these, though, are crazy. They fall into two categories for me: 1) My brain has no capacity for remembering that ever (see questions such as “Who was your third grade English teacher?” and “What time were you born?” 2) I can’t commit to the answers to these questions (see “Who is your favorite actor/actress?” and “What is your ‘Desert Island’ album”). Can’t these sites just let us create and answer our own questions??

4 comments

why have password reminders in the first place? they are the biggest security risks i can think of right now, much-much bigger than any weak password as they are so typical, names/birth dates/etc, not that many possibilities. everyone has multiple e-mail addresses anyway, why not just always ask for one (or an alternative)?
yep, totally agree with dain there. password reminder questions are a huge security risk. most of the answers can be gleened though researching public records or general knowledge of the end user. heck, a weak password reminder question is how sarah palin's yahoo account got hacked!

why have strong passwords when you create backdoors that are easier to get though??
Not to mention the fact that some of the questions (like your favorite actress) always change! So then you get stressed and wonder if it was your favorite actress when you signed up or from when you were little or something like that. Sigh, the attempt to protect us is just making us more insane...
ʇnuʇsǝɥɔ sıɹɹoɯ :ɐ
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Hi we kind of need your email for security purposes. We promise to never ever give it to deposed Prince Austin Mushasta.


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