Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Smart phones destroy the forgotten password

Smart phones have enabled us to view email anytime, anywhere. With this we have entrusted our devices with our user ID and password to ease our desire for instant gratification.

Now a brief thought experiment...

You lose your smart phone. Your user ID is saved in the device for your bank, facebook etc. All a dishonest individual needs is five minutes of patience after selecting the forgotten password link and they have full access to your account, thanks to the saved access to your email.

So now I ask: how useful is that link when the reset is sent to the least protected account a user owns? What good are passwords at all if they can be so easily reset?

The next step in mobile security needs to be developed and sent to market immediately. If I had the solution I would be doing more thanbloggibg about the problem. Instead I wait and watch. What will we see.

Biometrics?

Face recognition?

An increase in challege questions?

The balance has always been between uniqe passwords and memorable passwords, ease of access for account owners and protection from fraud.

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