Security Tips for Choosing Security Questions and Answers (2024)

Security Tips for Choosing Security Questions and Answers

The security questions and answers you choose for your TigerNet ID can be used to bypass your password and access your account. This is a great service if you forget your password and need to get into your account, but what if someone else wants into your account and tries to guess your answers? If you've chosen your answers wisely, it will be difficult for someone to guess them.

When setting up security questions and answers:

1. Consider the information you provide on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc). If you are friends with your mother, and she lists her maiden name, then "What is your mother's maiden name?" is probably not a secure question for you to answer!

2. Choose security questions wisely. If the question asks about information that is a matter of public record (date of birth, city you were born in, city you were married in) or otherwise easily obtainable, do not use that question. Do not use questions that have a limited number of possible answers (favorite color, favorite season, month you were born), as these are easy to guess.

3. Consider coming up with a standard set of lies. Maybe everybody knows you were born in Hays, so you always answer "Orlando" for the question "Where were you born?" The key is to remember your lies (maybe write them down and store them in a secure place, such as a safe or locked cabinet).

4. Pretend you are someone else when answering the questions. Choose someone you know very well, such as your childhood best friend. Make sure you remember who you pretended to be, or write it down somewhere safe.

5. If you use a password manager (e.g. KeePass, LastPass), use answers that have nothing to do with you personally and store them along with your account information.