I’ve written a few times about secret questions, and there are a few good examples out there that do it well, but many more that do it poorly.
The problem with secret questions is that in general, they all ask you the same question. Once someone has the answer, they could potentially break into your account on a large number of websites. The other issue is that they are often so easy to answer, that if someone knows you relatively well, they could be malicious and break into your online accounts.
Examples of bad secret questions are;
- mothers maiden name
- pets name
- partners name
eBay at least gives users a selection of secret questions to choose from. Reducing the likelihood that knowing the answer to someones secret question on one site, will mean that you know the answer they’re likely to have given to eBay.
