Word: names
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...password retrieval system for Virgin America's Elevate frequent-flyer program, one of several a user may be prompted to answer in order to verify his or her identity. But it's not just Richard Branson's own quirky take on the standard "What's your mother's maiden name?" query, widely used for verification purposes by many banks and e-mail services. These days, security questions are getting more creative because they have to. As we make more and more personal information freely available online via our blogs, Facebook profiles, Flickr photos and Twitter, security questions based on biographical...
...choose from "Who was your best childhood friend?" "What was your grandfather's occupation?" or "Who is your favorite historical person?" The questions for a Citibank MasterCard account are even odder, bordering on the absurd: "Who was your archrival growing up?" "If you needed a new first name, what would it be?" and "If you could control your height, how tall would you be?" Even if a person can answer those questions, there's no guarantee the answer will be the same the next time around. (One Citibank query, for example, is "Which foreign country would you like to visit...
...some Internet security consultants advise choosing answers that are correct, but with a twist, which could be as simple as a few numbers at the end of a maiden name, or a pet's name spelled backward...
...next time you set up an online account and are asked your pet's name, don't just say it's Max - one of the most popular dog names in the U.S. and one that a motivated hacker might guess. Say it's Xam2008...
...simpler, and far better, I think: it lets you know what your friends are listening to. Like Facebook, MySpace has a news feed, which figures out which of your friends interests you most and communicates their doings to you. So, if my musician brother Seth Augustus (a stage name) adds an interesting tune to his playlist, my news feed will report that. I can even subscribe to his playlists...