Fun and Games until you realize you just gave out the answers to your bank account security questions

Browsing through my timeline on Facebook, I see many of my friends answering personality quizzes or answering seemingly harmless questions. Its social media, we’re supposed to interact, right?

Now stop and think for a minute, you know those security questions many secured websites ask you to answer to prove your identity. I know my bank, my investment company, several utility company accounts all have me answer “security” questions.

I’ve never answered many of these social media questionnaires, not because I don’t want to be social, I am just cautious about what I put online for the world to see. Then I started noticing a lot of those quiz/discussion starters on Facebook were the same as many of the security questions I have answered to “secure” my accounts and personal data.

But it Seems So Harmless

What Street did you grow up on? – Yep, both a security question and a fun little quiz on FB.

What was your first pet’s name” – Ditto

What was your high school mascot? Uh, OH!

So, it goes like this:

Security question for your bank account – Where did you meet your spouse?

The Facebook version usually makes it a more fun version, “If you had to get married (or eat dinner or live or work….) where you first met your husband, where would you be getting married (or eat dinner or live or work…..)? This is usually made even more fun with a cute or funny picture in the post.

So, now think back, how many of these quizzes or questions have you answered on social media? How many answers to your security questions for your important accounts have you revealed?

Interestingly enough, this morning I noticed a friend answer a question about where she met her husband and I immediately thought of the same question on one of my accounts. Then I saw Brian Krebs had written a great blog on this, you can read it here:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/04/dont-give-away-historic-details-about-yourself/

Be careful online.