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How to give IT security a bad name and alienate your customers in one go.

Apples new App security questions, a case study in how not to do it !

1. Don't tell your users anything about it, just force it on them.
2. provide no clue as to whether this is a spoof or real item.
3. Provide questions to which the user does not know the answer !
4. Give no option for questions that the user might remember without writing them down.
5. When questioned reply Apple takes users security very seriously....

You probably think this is a joke comment but it is what Apple have actually done. The program is being rolled out to users gradually.
When you try and purchase an app you get presented with a menu requiring you to setup 3 security questions - fine a good addition to maligned Itunes security. Trouble is the questions are childish, who is your favourite teacher ? when were you first kissed ? etc
I like many many users could not think of a set of memorable answers so I would not have to write them down.
There are lots of users complaining about this but silence from Apple
What do you think, gives security a bad name, properly implemented this could have been a shining light in how to do it.

How to give IT security a bad name and alienate your customers in one go.

Apples new App security questions, a case study in how not to do it !

1. Don't tell your users anything about it, just force it on them.
2. provide no clue as to whether this is a spoof or real item.
3. Provide questions to which the user does not know the answer !
4. Give no option for questions that the user might remember without writing them down.
5. When questioned reply Apple takes users security very seriously....

You probably think this is a joke comment but it is what Apple have actually done. The program is being rolled out to users gradually.
When you try and purchase an app you get presented with a menu requiring you to setup 3 security questions - fine a good addition to maligned Itunes security. Trouble is the questions are childish, who is your favourite teacher ? when were you first kissed ? etc
I like many many users could not think of a set of memorable answers so I would not have to write them down.
There are lots of users complaining about this but silence from Apple
What do you think, gives security a bad name, properly implemented this could have been a shining light in how to do it.

This is a *very* old problem. I'm amazed that Apple -- of all companies -- still hasn't figured out that the best way to use security questions is to allow the user to create their own.

My customers forget answers to their security questions almost as often as they forget their passwords. Security questions just force people to write down more notes -- that they will eventually lose track of -- and most of all, *annoys them*!

This post has been edited by ronin7752: 02 May 2012 - 10:51 AM

why would anyone even use itunes anymore with spotify being available?
for 10 bucks a month you can listen to any song anytime, on any device without downloading anything or worrying about song formats or syncing anything.

Davidlat39, on 02 May 2012 - 01:18 AM, said:

Apple never responds to any complaint unless they are forced to. This is their publicly-acknowledged company policy.

I can't believe people are having a problem with this.

First, your answers don't have to be real, or even make any sense; so you don't have to give up any real information. In what year did you graduate? Last. In what year was your mother born? Next.

Second, passworded accounts, including security questions, have been around for a long time. I find it hard to have any sympathy for anybody who hasn't yet created a single, secure repository (a Word or Excel doc, for examples) for all their user IDs, passwords and security Q&As.