Submitted 8 months ago by smeg@feddit.uk to privacyguides@lemmy.one
https://proton.me/blog/security-questions-flaws-solutions
The answer is yes, and the TL;DR is not to use them, use 2FA, and not share personal details online (which is hopefully all obvious advice)
cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/12060980
When I’m asked for a security question, I let my password manager generate gibberish and use those as answers.
I can’t honestly think of a less secure way to “secure” an account, than being asked questions that anyone you know would be able to answer with little effort.
Once, I made an account for something that let me write my own security question and answer. I thought that was much better than the usual options and wrote something that cryptically referenced a difficult problem I once worked on. The answer could possibly be found online, but only to someone who properly understood the question. Later, when I needed to authenticate myself again, I got my security question. The answer isn’t something you typically memorize, but I knew what the prompt meant and how to work it out so I did so.
But I was too slow. Apparently you had to answer within one minute. It took me about ten so it locked me out. Tech support helpfully reset my password after merely verifying my phone number and SSN which are probably known to thousands.
birdcat@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
no they are not, just another stupid article from proton. nothing stops you from saying that bwE0F^pHb5iPzMZiismyeiTIWh^oB*#V8SaD0F3R*SeH was your first pets name.
proton however stops you from disabling otp after setting up multiple security keys, they stop you from putting a pin on your drive app and they stop you from using an +4 digit pin on your mail app.
but yea, the potentially insecure thing they dont even offer is the biggest concernn here 🤦♀️
smeg@feddit.uk 8 months ago
Nothing stops us enthusiasts from doing that, this article is for a more casual user who might not realise how easy the real answers are for a hacker to discover
birdcat@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
i mentionied the flaws i saw and are are being adresssed by the community since years without ever anything happening. so i just dont get the focus on a problem that does not even exist.
what will the next article be about? to dont write your password on a post it and stick it onto the screen?
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I really don’t think anyone on the planet could figure out the name of my first pet. Even everyone in my family who would have known the answer to that question, they have all died. My first pet’s name is a secret safe with me.
bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
How will you remember that though? A lot of password managers don’t make it easy to store security question responses alongside account credentials, and if you’re using a security question, it might be because you lost access to those credentials anyway
Boozilla@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I put these answers in the “notes” section of Bitwarden. It’s a little inconvenient, but it works.
summerof69@lemm.ee 8 months ago
And how many regular people do that? Or does security apply only to advanced users?
furrowsofar@beehaw.org 8 months ago
Security is always porous. The article really had no suggestions really. They say 2FA but account recovery is often a combination of access to you email account or questions. None of this stuff is particularly secure.
jlow@beehaw.org 8 months ago
I’m probably not a regular user but my first pet’s name, the city I was born in, my first school and my childhood nicknames are also very long strings of characters 👌