4 ms·

For anything that involves human interaction for the verification, this doesn't really work. I generate random strings for these and store them in my password

For anything that involves human interaction for the verification, this doesn't really work. I generate random strings for these and store them in my password manager. On several occasions I've called companies for whatever reason and they've asked these questions to verify my identity. When I say "oh it's a random string let me open my password manager to confirm it" they often reply with "oh it's ok, you're right it's gibberish" and consider me verified.

dboat 8y ago
Had the same experience with blizzard support a while ago. Now I follow the above poster's advice and use it as a secondary password, but make it pronounceable at least.
- r_smart 8y ago
  Yeah, I shouldn't have said 'gibberish' but rather random words / lies. Just don't answer the questions basically.
david-s 8y ago
I've taken to making them say "this is not random (insert password here)". Still haven't seen if that actually works in practice.
- wlesieutre 8y ago
  You’re probably still better off with reasonable but fake answers. First pet was named October, your parents met in Tennessee City, etc.
juandazapata 8y ago
You can generate a pronouceable password based on dictionary words for such cases and get something that you can say over the phone like `leaf-auto-drunk-horse-zebra`. This is supported by any modern password manager.
mont 8y ago
You can always use a fake name/city/etc and store that in your pm.
oh_sigh 8y ago
Would an attacker know that you're the kind of person to type in gibberish? Also, you don't need to type gibberish. If your mothers maiden name is Jones, you can enter her maiden name as Steenberger and store that in your password manager.
- cortesoft 8y ago
  An attacker wouldn't have to know you are the kind of person who puts gibberish... "oh, shoot... sometimes I make up a fake name but sometimes I put gibberish... I can't remember which I used here"

dboat 8y ago

Had the same experience with blizzard support a while ago. Now I follow the above poster's advice and use it as a secondary password, but make it pronounceable at least.

r_smart 8y ago
Yeah, I shouldn't have said 'gibberish' but rather random words / lies. Just don't answer the questions basically.

david-s 8y ago

I've taken to making them say "this is not random (insert password here)". Still haven't seen if that actually works in practice.

wlesieutre 8y ago
You’re probably still better off with reasonable but fake answers. First pet was named October, your parents met in Tennessee City, etc.

juandazapata 8y ago

You can generate a pronouceable password based on dictionary words for such cases and get something that you can say over the phone like `leaf-auto-drunk-horse-zebra`. This is supported by any modern password manager.

mont 8y ago

You can always use a fake name/city/etc and store that in your pm.

oh_sigh 8y ago

Would an attacker know that you're the kind of person to type in gibberish? Also, you don't need to type gibberish. If your mothers maiden name is Jones, you can enter her maiden name as Steenberger and store that in your password manager.

cortesoft 8y ago
An attacker wouldn't have to know you are the kind of person who puts gibberish... "oh, shoot... sometimes I make up a fake name but sometimes I put gibberish... I can't remember which I used here"