My building society's setting up a new computer system. They want me to complete an on-line application. One of the questions asked was : "Nominated account name" for my current account details. The box wasn't long enough, nor would it accept any abbreviation I could think of. I queried it and got the following response: "Please note that 'Nominated account name' means account holder's name and not the name of the bank."
Security questions also required include Name of a childhood hero and last schoolteacher's name. There was no option of alternative questions.
I can't remember any childhood heroes (I can't even remember if I had any) and as for schoolteacher's names, not a clue, it was all over fifty years ago.
Are these things set up by twelve-year-olds, or is it me?
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>> Are these things set up by twelve-year-olds, or is it me?
No. I have similar issues and have fed back to a few organisations why they lost my custom.
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Yes.
And me.
It takes years of filling in these details to realise that there is no national register of mother's maiden names, that no one can check the name of your first kindergarten, and very few people know your favorite colour.
You can in fact make it all up - the only proviso being that you remember it.
Caution - when completing CVs it probably pays not to be too inventive.
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>> It takes years of filling in these details to realise that there is no national register of mother's maiden names......
>> You can in fact make it all up - the only proviso being that you remember it.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30183770
Do most people get caught?
Well, of course, we only know about the ones who did get caught.
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I didn't mean you should make up your own identity, merely that the "mother's maiden name" is just a memorable identifier, as is "favourite teacher".
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So many companies just cannot get their act together.
They do things as cheap as possible and do not care about the customer.
Obvious examples on many sites.
Phone number ? It will not accept spaces.
Post code ? will not accept a space.
Credit card details? will not accept dates as shown on card.
IMO the concept of permitting a user to reset passwords by matching pre stored answers is a good one. Twenty simple questions that you have previously answered. Answers like your first junior school should be OK for most folk. These are factual answers but questions like favourite beer might change over time :-)
I worked with one manager who was a bit of a geek and had little idea of the real world.
He wanted central control of password resetting. The company worked 24/7 all year internationally. He could not understand that a low grade third world worker would not be making an international phone call etc never mind identifying the caller :-(
Resetting your password locally ( with security questions) is IMO the best way at present.
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English language - Zero
