# Website "security" questions with no add-your-own-question option **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 17, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153 "2012-02-17T16:52:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/21 "2012-02-17T21:24:43Z")
I grew up in the moral panic that ensued after the Adam Walsh kidnapping and murder. Someone told my mother to establish a code question so we’d know if a stranger was legit or not, so she did just that. The question was so unusual that, if given an add-your-own question option, that’s what I use. I know it, my brother knows it (but doesn’t care about my accounts because he’s not a dirtbag), and my parents know it, but that’s it. (I don’t think Airman even knows about it.) Sometimes moral panics are useful. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/22 "2012-02-17T21:40:53Z")
There are some advantages to having bought your first car whilst living in another country. No-one but me that I’m in more than the most vague contact with knows what it was… Apart from that- yep, half my relatives and several of my old school friends would know all the normal questions; even the mentally unstable people. Not a great system. ---
**Author:** ![Mom-of-Andrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@Mom-of-Andrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mom-of-Andrew)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/23 "2012-02-17T21:53:43Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > Someone told my mother to establish a code question so we’d know if a stranger was legit or not, so she did just that. My Mom heard about this a few years ago and said, “That’s a good idea. We should have done that.” The look on her face was priceless when I told her that we did. I would have refused to go with a legiitimate person because they didn’t know the ‘secret code’ ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/24 "2012-02-17T21:53:59Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Sallie Mae, the education loan people, ask “what is your grandmothers maiden name?” No apostrophe (hey, we’re only in the business of education), but what really bothers me is that on the rare occasion I have to answer the question, I can never remember which grandmother I chose: like all humans, I have a maternal and a paternal grandmother, and like most people, they had different names. Holy crap. I don’t even know my grandmother’s married name… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/25 "2012-02-23T07:47:34Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I just use the same easy-to-remember word for everything across all websites. For example… > > What is your mother’s maiden name? > wallaby > What town were you born in? > wallaby > What is your favorite color? > wallaby > … I’m not the only person that does that! 🙂 CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/26 "2012-02-23T09:03:03Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > Since I save all my passwords in a password program, I’ve started treating my answers to security questions as extra passwords: I make up random answers and write down those answers too. > e.g. > What is your Mother’s maiden name? > A: Q1aSU4KasZkPEm5qW1ojmVxPMPyUK9 Was she related to the Pittsburgh Q1aSU4KasZkPEm5qW1ojmVxPMPyUK9s? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/27 "2012-02-23T10:52:56Z")
As some of you may know, this is how Sarah Palin’s E-Mail account was hacked a few years ago. Link: [http://www.straightupsearch.com/uncategorized/2012-02-08-hacked-email-accounts-a-lesson-in-email-security/](http://www.straightupsearch.com/uncategorized/2012-02-08-hacked-email-accounts-a-lesson-in-email-security/) > [@](#): > > Sarah Palin’s Email account was accessed by David Kernell during the 2008 United States presidential election campaign. Kernell obtained access to Palin’s account by researching biographical details such as her high school and birth date and using Yahoo!’s account recovery for forgotten passwords. It’s hard to believe that these easily hacked security questions are still being used. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/28 "2012-02-23T11:10:11Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I got really mad at a security question interface once because it refused to recognize my best friend’s name as a valid answer to “What is your best friend’s last name?” I was like “I’ve had the same best friend for 15 years! How could it be anything else?! Fuck, is he mad at me or something?” That’s ok, facebook rejected both of my grandmothers’ first lastnames. Mind you, I begin by not understanding wth is it any business of theirs whether I’ve changed ISPs, which is what triggered the protocol in the first place. Blizzard rejects my name. The whole thing is one letter too long for their memory; if I enter it fully, it tells me that’s not the right name. What I don’t understand is how come their input field is longer than their storage field. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/29 "2012-02-23T12:15:59Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Was she related to the Pittsburgh Q1aSU4KasZkPEm5qW1ojmVxPMPyUK9s? And do you have the other half of this locket?? ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/30 "2012-02-23T13:26:54Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > That’s ok, facebook rejected both of my grandmothers’ first lastnames. Mind you, I begin by not understanding wth is it any business of theirs whether I’ve changed ISPs, which is what triggered the protocol in the first place. They keep track of what IP address (or addresses) you usually log in from. Your IP address would have changed when you switched ISP. To them it looks like a login attempt from an unusual location so they ask the additional questions. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/31 "2012-02-23T13:40:20Z")
Only I don’t log in “habitually” from anywhere - moving from Spain to Scotland, from Scotland to Spain, from Spain to Scotland, from Scotland to Spain, did not trigger their systems; from my home ISP to my mother’s ISP to my brother’s ISP to my portable ISP did not trigger their systems. Change portable ISPs and they freak out. Makey no sensei. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/32 "2012-02-23T13:40:58Z")
I used to think it would make sense to have a trio of answers, like Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry. Unfortunately, I’ve encountered sites where the security questions come up randomly, so you have to remember what flavor goes with which question… ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/33 "2012-02-23T16:22:16Z")
As mentioned above you don’t want to give real answers. You should develop an easy to remember scheme to derive the answer from the question. Given the question “What was the name of your first school?” some possible answers are: “school first your of name the was what” - reverse the question “hahafoic” - 2nd letter of each word “chocolate school” - a memorable word plus the subject of the question “your first school’s name the question is” - Yoda speak. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/34 "2012-02-23T16:57:03Z")
I like when they let you pick your own question and response. My credit card company does that, so now when I call them, they _have_ to ask me, “What are you wearing?” And I _have_ to respond, “I don’t think that’s appropriate!!” (stolen from some comedian, Eugene Mirman I think) ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/35 "2012-02-23T17:09:08Z")
I hate one website that I use for work. The security question is “Please enter your birthday” and the answer box is a blank fucking text box. No indication if it wants mm/dd/yy or mm/dd/yyyy or dd/mm/yy or Month Day, Year. Gah! Stupid! ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/36 "2012-02-23T17:20:02Z")
I hate security questions. First of all, I have no kids or spouse. There go half the questions I can choose from. Then, both my parents have three-letter middle names. Three letters is often too short. Chuck those questions out too. Then, if I’m lucky, I get a couple of questions I’ll never remember what I answered – “What is your favorite food?” I don’t know, I have lots of foods I like. How should I remember what I put in eight years ago? Let me write my own questions. It’s silly not to. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/37 "2012-02-23T18:33:39Z")
Another vote for hating vague security questions. One site I swear added them suddenly without giving me a chance to answer them. I had to phone for a work around. > [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > :smack: Good idea. Much better than petulantly answering “what was your childhood nickname?” _Fuckyou_; “what was your grammar school?” _Fuckyouelementary_ and so on. Habit changes today. I feel better knowing I’m not the only one doing that. For me it’s Fuc4companyname. They susally want a capital and a number. I know it’s mostly theater to cover their asses. I know that anyone who has access to my computer and my account in the first place can get past the questions. How do I know? I had trouble getting into one account. It wouldn’t believe the first street I lived on. My son said, let me try. He got it. Said I must have been misspelling it. I hadn’t told him the question or the answer. He had clicked on the field and paused and my computer had provided an auto-fill list. He said sometimes you need to provide the correct first letter to get that, but since it’s not something you’re sending out, you can go through the whole alphabet. > [@Max\_Torque](#): > > I like when they let you pick your own question and response. My credit card company does that, so now when I call them, they _have_ to ask me, “What are you wearing?” And I _have_ to respond, “I don’t think that’s appropriate!!” > > (stolen from some comedian, Eugene Mirman I think) Nice. And possibly a clue as to why the option isn’t offered some places. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/38 "2012-02-23T19:43:05Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > My son said, let me try. He got it. Said I must have been misspelling it. I hadn’t told him the question or the answer. He had clicked on the field and paused and my computer had provided an auto-fill list. He said sometimes you need to provide the correct first letter to get that, but since it’s not something you’re sending out, you can go through the whole alphabet. That is a browser setting that you can turn off if you want. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/39 "2012-02-23T20:06:40Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > :smack: Good idea. Much better than petulantly answering “what was your childhood nickname?” _Fuckyou_; “what was your grammar school?” _Fuckyouelementary_ and so on. Habit changes today. You went to my school! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153/40 "2012-02-23T20:59:45Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > I hate security questions. > > First of all, I have no kids or spouse. There go half the questions I can choose from. > > Then, both my parents have three-letter middle names. Three letters is often too short. Chuck those questions out too. > > Then, if I’m lucky, I get a couple of questions I’ll never remember what I answered – “What is your favorite food?” I don’t know, I have lots of foods I like. How should I remember what I put in eight years ago? Yes; quite often the questions either don’t apply to me or ask questions I don’t know the answer to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/website-security-questions-with-no-add-your-own-question-option/613153.md?page=3)