[pchelpers] Article:Secret questions 'make emails vulnerable to hacking'

Posted: 2009-06-23 13:29:30+05:30 IST
Updated: Jun 23, 2009 at 1329 hrs IST

Washington: What's the name of the school you attended? What is the
first name of your favourite cousin? Well, email services often protect
accounts with these kind of security questions in case holders forget
their password.

Now, a new study in the US has revealed just how easy the answers of
such security questions are for other people to guess -- in fact these
facts make life simple for hackers, the 'New Scientist' reported.

Researchers at Microsoft have based their findings on an analysis of an
experiment, involving 32 email users.

Acquaintances of the email users - people with whom they wouldn't
normally share their login details - were asked to try and guess the
answers users assigned to protect their accounts.

More here:
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/secret-questions-make-emails-vulnerable-to-hacking/480245/
-- 
John Durham
Site http://modecideas.com
Server hosted on Ubuntu 4.10
Good advice is like good paint. It only works when applied.



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