5 ms·

another reason to never answer those security questions with actual info.

happytiger 3y ago
Or put your real birth date.
AdamJacobMuller 3y ago
The primary reason being when you have to answer the questions over the phone. "What is your mother's maiden name?" "bidah6shee8Dahkouju" "Wait, what, that is correct how ?" Every time I hear their confusion and shock, I get a bit more depressed that more people aren't doing this.
- tzs 3y ago
  Most people want to minimize the time it takes to resolve whatever issue has led to them being on the phone with support. Giving "bidah6shee8Dahkouju" as your mother's maiden name does not help achieve that. Using a different made up mother's maiden name at each site is a good idea, but you can use short names that are easy to pronounce and spell for that to get the security benefits without drawing out the time you have to spend with support.
- amlozano 3y ago
  Protip, use something like a https://diceware.rempe.us/#eff https://diceware.rempe.us/#eff password with 6 words. They never seem to mind when you just say "litmus secrecy ruckus nest reason send", they don't even skip a beat.
  - mdaniel 3y ago
    I enjoy pointing out that 1Password has a dedicated section for generating "security answers" using this same method (they allow "horse battery staple" style with variable number of words, although a minimum of 3) https://support.1password.com/generate-security-questions/ https://support.1password.com/generate-security-questions/ Like all good Bitwarden things, feel free to spit^W vote for a similar feature request https://community.bitwarden.com/t/security-questions-track-autofill-like-a-password/14353 https://community.bitwarden.com/t/security-questions-track-a...
    - mhb 3y ago
      KeePass, too.
    - whatevaa 3y ago
      Bitwarden has passphrase generation which can achieve similar thing.
      - mdaniel 3y ago
        Yeah, I knew the Bitwarden army would show up. Let's compare, shall we? # 1Password Steps 1. Tap Edit 1. Click "add more" 1. Click "Security Questions" 1. (optionally choose one of the common questions from a drop down) 1. click in the answer field 1. click Create a New Answer 1. Observe the prefilled battery-horse-stable-ish answer 1. Click Use 1. Repeat "add another question" as needed 1. Press Save # Bitwarden Version 2023.12.0 (15279) Steps 1. Tap Edit 1. Scroll to the very bottom 1. Drop down the select widget under New Custom Field to select Hidden 1. Press the + ok, cool, I guess as there's no generation option on that Hidden Value field 1. search around and find "Generate" under the "View" menu, because of course it is (I'll meet you half-way on this one, since maybe a long-time Bitwarden user would know the command-G shortcut already) 1. Expand the Options section 1. Choose Passphrase 1. search for the "OK" button, realize there is no such thing, so use the Copy button to nuke whatever's in your clipboard when you started this process 1. Click Close 1. Click back into the Hidden field's Value text area which has mysteriously lost UI focus from that exercise 1. Press Paste 1. Click in the Name field and type the question the site asked you 1. Repeat as needed for other questions 1. Press Save So, yeah, "akshully" one can do this with a vivid imagination and a piece of paper, too, but let's not pretend those two experiences are in the same universe as each other
- scarmig 3y ago
  An equally likely outcome: "What is your mother's maiden name?" "Oh, some random collection of letters and numbers... I think there was an a and a d in it?" "Ah, okay, what info or money do you want?"

Or put your real birth date.

The primary reason being when you have to answer the questions over the phone. "What is your mother's maiden name?" "bidah6shee8Dahkouju" "Wait, what, that is correct how ?" Every time I hear their confusion and shock, I get a bit more depressed that more people aren't doing this.

tzs 3y ago
Most people want to minimize the time it takes to resolve whatever issue has led to them being on the phone with support. Giving "bidah6shee8Dahkouju" as your mother's maiden name does not help achieve that. Using a different made up mother's maiden name at each site is a good idea, but you can use short names that are easy to pronounce and spell for that to get the security benefits without drawing out the time you have to spend with support.
amlozano 3y ago
Protip, use something like a https://diceware.rempe.us/#eff https://diceware.rempe.us/#eff password with 6 words. They never seem to mind when you just say "litmus secrecy ruckus nest reason send", they don't even skip a beat.
- mdaniel 3y ago
  I enjoy pointing out that 1Password has a dedicated section for generating "security answers" using this same method (they allow "horse battery staple" style with variable number of words, although a minimum of 3) https://support.1password.com/generate-security-questions/ https://support.1password.com/generate-security-questions/ Like all good Bitwarden things, feel free to spit^W vote for a similar feature request https://community.bitwarden.com/t/security-questions-track-autofill-like-a-password/14353 https://community.bitwarden.com/t/security-questions-track-a...
  - mhb 3y ago
    KeePass, too.
  - whatevaa 3y ago
    Bitwarden has passphrase generation which can achieve similar thing.
    - mdaniel 3y ago
      Yeah, I knew the Bitwarden army would show up. Let's compare, shall we? # 1Password Steps 1. Tap Edit 1. Click "add more" 1. Click "Security Questions" 1. (optionally choose one of the common questions from a drop down) 1. click in the answer field 1. click Create a New Answer 1. Observe the prefilled battery-horse-stable-ish answer 1. Click Use 1. Repeat "add another question" as needed 1. Press Save # Bitwarden Version 2023.12.0 (15279) Steps 1. Tap Edit 1. Scroll to the very bottom 1. Drop down the select widget under New Custom Field to select Hidden 1. Press the + ok, cool, I guess as there's no generation option on that Hidden Value field 1. search around and find "Generate" under the "View" menu, because of course it is (I'll meet you half-way on this one, since maybe a long-time Bitwarden user would know the command-G shortcut already) 1. Expand the Options section 1. Choose Passphrase 1. search for the "OK" button, realize there is no such thing, so use the Copy button to nuke whatever's in your clipboard when you started this process 1. Click Close 1. Click back into the Hidden field's Value text area which has mysteriously lost UI focus from that exercise 1. Press Paste 1. Click in the Name field and type the question the site asked you 1. Repeat as needed for other questions 1. Press Save So, yeah, "akshully" one can do this with a vivid imagination and a piece of paper, too, but let's not pretend those two experiences are in the same universe as each other
scarmig 3y ago
An equally likely outcome: "What is your mother's maiden name?" "Oh, some random collection of letters and numbers... I think there was an a and a d in it?" "Ah, okay, what info or money do you want?"