[masraum]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

What is the rationale for changing a password so often?

One challenge question option is always, "What is your mother's maiden name?"
Well, Kathryn, or Kathrine she has spelled it both ways, and her birth certificate has her last name spelled differently than her high school diploma, or the way her father spelled it. I can never remember the "correct" spelling of either one, so I never choose that option.

Something that most folks don't know/think about, is that you can have a fixed set of answers.

For instance, you could remember
Sec question 1 answer or 1st grade teacher: purple people eater
Sec question 2 answer or mother's maiden name: blueberry
Sec question 3 answer or first pet's name: clockwork orange

And use those answers everywhere. It doesn't matter if the "answer" is correct for the "question". All that matters is that you know what the answer is.

So "mothers maiden name" could be "cookie monster", and as long as you know that and use it every time, you're good. And, in some ways, it's probably far more secure, because if someone is able to find your mother's actual maiden name, they still don't have the correct answer to the question.