Not All Security Questions Are Secure

I’m a thief. I stole an email address, and I don’t feel too bad about it. Maybe a year or so ago, I decided to register my full name with Gmail. Because my primary address had my gaming handle in it, I wanted something a little more professional to use when necessary. When I attempted to register, I was told that name was already taken. For you Kevin Johnsons out there, this might not be uncommon. For a Seth Gholson, this is quite uncommon. My initial thought was “Oh! I must’ve registered it long ago and forgotten.” Naturally, I clicked “forgot my password.” I was present with the following security question:

What is your favorite color?

This seemed quite odd. I’d never use that as security question. For one thing, I’m on the fence between green and blue. I tend to spend a few years in each camp, alternating every so often. I just assumed I might’ve made this account so long ago that I chose this question before I understood what security meant. I made a gamble and I picked green. Wrong. Next up: blue. Bingo. I was present with a “new password” form. I set my password and logged in.

There were 5 emails – all Myspace related, 4-6 months old, and unread. None had even been archived. The last email was an account cancellation message from Myspace. That seemed awfully odd. A bit of Googling and and use of the Way Back Machine and I found him: another Seth Gholson. If his Myspace profile was an accurate indication, then he was around 14 or 15, had already developed an impressive ego, and fully expects to become a professional athlete.

Lessons to be learned by Mr. Other Seth Gholson:

1. Don’t pick easy security questions.
2. Don’t use the most obvious answer.
3. Bind your next gmail account to a secondary email address, like I did right after I snatched it.
4. Stay away from Myspace. It’s full of pervies.

I don’t feel too bad for this. It looks like he barely ever used it. On top of that, I’m older. I call firsties. If there’s a Seth Gholson out there born before ‘83, I welcome you to snatch the address from me.