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Choosing Password Reset Software Questions Is Necessary in the Age of Social Media

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Platforms have been requiring that we select a password to protect our information for years, and most of us can provide the standard mother’s maiden name and the last four digits of our social, but could a lot of others do the same with our information? In other words, just how secure are these password questions in today’s technology platform. 

In the world we live in today, our information can easily be stolen from online credit reports, websites and even social media sites. In fact, if your mother is a friend on Facebook (News - Alert) and she uses her maiden name within her own profile, you’ve just given everyone with access to this connection the answer to one of your password questions. Wouldn’t you rather implement password reset software to eliminate this chance of exposure?

Social media today actually makes it too easy to share our information and with all the different things we need to remember, most of us don’t want to have to remember 25 different passwords for every portal we like to use. A Password Reset Server could help with this process, eliminating much of the duplication process we tend to do, while also keeping our information safe.

Other questions that some websites may use to provide an “added level of security” include things like employee IDs, favorite foods or the names of pets. Many individuals in the HR department or those you work with may easily know this information about you. A better question may be to ask you what your first pet’s name was or its breed. Of course, fact-based questions are easier to remember, but they can also be too relevant to the person to really be kept a secret from others. 

By utilizing Password Reset Software, you have the freedom to create your own questions so you can be much more obscure and avoid asking those questions that everyone will already know. Do think carefully about the relevance your questions will have for others, as well as how difficult the answers may be to remember. You also need to gauge the actual security of the question. 

A recent Computer World report highlighted just how important it is to implement something like Password Reset Software. According to a report by Imperva, a recent database intrusion at RockYou, a developer of popular Facebook applications, uncovered 32 million passwords. All of these passwords were stored in clear text on the compromised database. The hacker then posted the entire list on the Internet. 

If you think you don’t need password reset software, think again.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jamie Epstein