BMO Security Precautions
Posted by: Quigley in Useless 'n Shit
Wednesday, November 21st 2007 at 12:51pm
The new security precautions on web sites such as banks, etc. are absolutely ridiculous. I was locked out of my business banking account today because I couldn't remember in two tries exactly how I spelled the name of my high school when I set it up.
Stupidity 1: It's a high school. Duh. Like many high schools out there, it can be spelled out in full with ampersand, in full without ampersand, in full with addendum truncated, in shortened form, as a nickname, abbreviated with periods, abbreviated without periods, abbreviated with addendum truncated, etc., etc. What am I supposed to do? Write it down and tape it to my monitor? What yahoo came up with this piece of garbage as a security question?
Stupidity 2: It's a high school. Meaning that anyone savvy enough to find out what my password is can easily discover the missing piece of information, and if they luck out when entering it, they're in.
Stupidity 3: I get all the same access to the account by calling the easy banking phone line. When you get locked out of the account for screwing up the security challenge, it even tells you the damn number in big bright letters. Call the toll free number, enter the card number and password, and you're in. Just as if the challenge never existed at all. Just as if it was TOTALLY POINTLESS.
Stupidity 4: This is my favourite. They say they're activating the security challenge because I'm logging in from an unfamiliar computer. Wonderful. Now, which is more likely? That I'm a hacker, or that I'm at my buddy's place trying to log in for emergency reasons? Right. So, chances are I'm now logging in from a machine where I have no control over the security precautions being used, and I might just have given an extra piece of information of a keylogger - maybe even one my backstabbing buddy installed himself. Now someone has an easier time compromising my security in the future.
A final note. Their passwords are maximum 6 characters in length, and in place of a user-defined user ID which could add a very small amount of extra security, you're forced to use the number that's stamped on the card. If they wanted to provide their customers with better security, these might have been good places to start.
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thunderchicken Wrote...
Saturday, November 24th 2007 at 7:48am
I only gets more brilliant when people use auto filling password things for their account information. Just wait until that computer gets stolen or someone weird is on it, and watch what happens to your account then.
Anesthetic Wrote...
Sunday, November 25th 2007 at 11:45am
What I like best about online banking, is the speed they process your transactions at. Take for example the fact that the money I've earned through work, directly deposited into my bank account, is not hard currency but an electronic representation of hard currency available to me. It gets treated just like hard currency. Back in the days of carts and wagons and IOUs there were obvious delays in dealing with transactions. Local transactions might be processed and tallied at the end of the day en mass and transaction requests that require a trip out of time obviously couldn't be done for a little longer. Pretend they have the wonderful invention of the train system and it takes a couple of days for the transaction to be processed between two locations, like someone making a payment for a bill out of town. Now fast-forward to present day and the wonders of technology. It's possible to deploy advanced military teams anywhere in the world in less than a day. That's how long it takes to actually move people and things across the world. When we think of how much of a delay in a cross-continental phone call there is and realise it's about nothing, we have to wonder about the following.
I have electronic "hard currency" in my account. I want to pay off part of my credit card. I tell the bank to place the amount against my credit card. This is an electronic transfer. My credit card information is updated with the payment on the screen and my credit available hasn't increased accordingly. My money will now spend 2 days in limbo. Electronic limbo. Why in the fucking world is there even a delay?! If someone tries using my card in an "uncharacterist" manner I'm immediately notified by a human being. SURELY you can process my payment in something resembling the 21st Century capacity and not the horse and cart era. Bastards.
SmrtySsa Wrote...
Sunday, November 25th 2007 at 1:29pm
2 days in limbo? You get it done fast! Most electronic transfers that I do take 5. Just like it takes 5 business days for an old fashioned cheque to clear.
Banks are retarded and always will be.
mike Wrote...
Sunday, November 25th 2007 at 8:05pm
I've always wondered about that delay on credit card payments/etc. It bugs the crap out of me.
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SmrtySsa Wrote...
Wednesday, November 21st 2007 at 6:21pm
Most banks are being stupid lately. of course, most of their online services are provided by the same pool of 3rd party companies so it's to be expected.
I've also been recently asked questions after logging on a few times from different places (I use PCF). At least I didn't get locked out after I answered the first one wrong, they just gave me another question.
I totally agree that the bank card number and (a non changable in a lot of cases) password is pretty weak in its own standard.
BMO's mosaik mastercard is the same card number plus 6 character maximum password. I forget it often because my usual passwords are all over 10 characters.. but according to their terms and services you're not responsible for any online fraudulent activity because they're super secure.