High Security

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I ran across a web page today that required a security question before you could ask the company a question. The reason, they said, was so that you (and only you) would be able to log-in to their website to retrieve the answer to your question.

The idea of my company operating our comment page like that blows my mind. I can't figure out what extraordinary secret stuff you might ask that wouldn't be safe to have sent to you in an email.

Then I took the time to look at their security questions. And friends, I took it as proof that they aren't out to make it easy for you. One of the options was "The first letter of the name of your best friend followed by the last four digits of their phone number."

Not only do they make you choose a best friend, but who remembers the last four digits of a friend's phone number when they are "Memory 4"? And even if you took the time to look up their number in your phone's memory, you would be faced with the difficulty of remembering whether you used their cell number, their house number, or any of a dozen other numbers.

I haven't decided yet, is this all for the sake of security, or is it the internet way of putting you on hold for an hour?

Comments

Matthew Carroll said…
Hello, we are here to serve you. Please don't trouble us with your questions.
3:14 PM
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