wheresrhys

Not content with making the download of their latest browser a maze in a labyrinth in a rabbit warren, Once you’ve downloaded it and want to report something wrong with it they once again fail (though in a more minor way).

For added security many sites ask you for the answer to a pertinent question only you will know the answer to. CPP mess this up in a big way, and so do Microsoft. The choices of question are as follows:

• Mother’s birthplace
  Why not go for maiden name. In most cases that is 100% known by the child, but birthplace…? I’m fairly sure I know what mine is, but then there are all sorts of permutations – would you enter the name of the town, or the hospital name, or the town and country if they were born overseas. How are you supposed to remember which permutation you used?
• Best childhood friend
  Let’s see, it was definitely Scott… although we did fall out for a bit, so maybe James. But then again I only knew him from when I was 11, so maybe Gareth…
• Name of first pet
  The only question in the list that cuts the mustard.
• Favourite teacher
  Similar to best childhood friend. In general having an opinion question as a security question is borderline idiotic (though I do see how it prevents people from working out your answer based on factual research), as opinions change. Asking your opinion on something way back in the past has the advantage of being more likely to be immune to day to day fluctuations, but could nevertheless be prone to drifting as your rose-tinted glasses warp slowly with time.
• Favourite historical person
  On the face of it seems to be immune to day to day fluctuations, but could be changed by as simple an act as reading a magazine article.
• Grandfather’s occupation
  Do they not realise that everybody has two grandfathers?

I suppose you could argue that for each person only one option has to be a plausible candidate, but my point is that unless you assume the person has very unshakable opinions about the past, only two of the above are reliable. Honestly!