Britons 'should provide false answers' to IT security questions

2010-03-16

Computer users should learn to provide false answers to the typical IT security questions used by many websites, it has been suggested.

Researchers from Cambridge University claimed earlier this month that hackers can successfully bypass such questions on one in every 84 accounts purely by using guesswork.

The study found that cybercriminals can use the internet to find out information relating to popular questions such as 'what is your mother's maiden name?'

As a result, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, suggested that Britons should consider entering deliberately incorrect answers that only they will remember.

He said: "One's mother's maiden name is a matter of public record and the name of your pet dog, cat, goldfish or favourite football team is likely to be listed on Facebook.

"The problem is that people haven't learned to lie when a site asks them their mother's maiden name."

A recent study by the UK Cards Association found that over 51,000 phishing incidents were recorded in 2009, representing a rise of 16 per cent from the previous 12-month period.

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