4 ms·

This sounds crazy, but I'd have a small worry that giving out your CEO's personal phone number exposes potential attacks against other services that use the pho

by mherdeg 11y ago

This sounds crazy, but I'd have a small worry that giving out your CEO's personal phone number exposes potential attacks against other services that use the phone number as a token. Like: (1) Do you have a store-loyalty program at CVS? Can I use your number when I buy stuff and get your coupons? (2) Can I re-set your Amazon.com password using live chat with customer support by convincing them that I know your name and phone number and must therefore be you? Or can I at least have some of your recent orders declared missing and re-delivered to my house? (3) Can I use your phone number in spoof caller ID then call an airline who auto-recognizes the incoming phone number and reveals info about the traveler's flights? (4) Can I reorder prescriptions or learn about prescription drugs using your name and phone number? Just some thoughts. Because a personal phone number is often not common knowledge outside of one's friends and acquaintances, third parties sometimes give it unreasonable importance.

TodPunk 11y ago
You are very correct. =c) This is why I won't be using that line as a security number in any case (but you can have my coupons, sure, I don't mind). I have another line for that. I'm glad someone else also thought of that.
pjc50 11y ago
Phone numbers aren't very private already, though.
madcaptenor 11y ago
(4) Reordering prescriptions would be useless unless you could pick up the prescription. The security apparatus for this seems to be a little more robust - when I pick up a prescription for my wife I'm usually asked for her birthday and sometimes her street address. Not that that's good security, but there are less people who know those than who know her phone number.
amalcon 11y ago
When I first read this, it seemed really odd to me. Before cellphones and the Internet, nearly everyone in a region had a book with nearly everyone else's phone number in it. How have we ended up in a situation where phone numbers are now used for authentication?

by mherdeg 11y ago

TodPunk 11y ago

You are very correct. =c) This is why I won't be using that line as a security number in any case (but you can have my coupons, sure, I don't mind). I have another line for that. I'm glad someone else also thought of that.

pjc50 11y ago

Phone numbers aren't very private already, though.

madcaptenor 11y ago

(4) Reordering prescriptions would be useless unless you could pick up the prescription. The security apparatus for this seems to be a little more robust - when I pick up a prescription for my wife I'm usually asked for her birthday and sometimes her street address. Not that that's good security, but there are less people who know those than who know her phone number.

amalcon 11y ago

When I first read this, it seemed really odd to me. Before cellphones and the Internet, nearly everyone in a region had a book with nearly everyone else's phone number in it. How have we ended up in a situation where phone numbers are now used for authentication?