New IRS tax hack rips off people who were already ripped off
Originally published in 2015
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Security questions
Those security questions about your siblings and your favorite car may not protect you from theft.
“Knowledge-based authentication or ‘out-of-wallet’ questions have always had a weakness,” said Daniel Lance with Archer Security Group. “They ask questions we all brag about, or that is public knowledge.”
Lance suggested that you use the knowledge-based questions as an extra password layer, when possible.
“When asked to enter your best friend’s name, input a complex alpha-numeric password with more than eight digits,” he said.
Then, use a storage device, like a digital password safe, to encrypt and store that password, he explained.
“Knowledge-based authentication isn’t about helping you remember who your first grade teacher is,” he said. “It’s about getting you access again and again.”
However, most knowledge-based authentication solutions store your answers unencrypted, he said.
In case of a hack, he recommended you use different knowledge-based authentication answers for different companies or organizations, so the thieves can’t use your security answers against you.
