Last Updated on October 4, 2020 by Christopher G Mendla
Beware of Facebook games such as this Facebook maiden name game as they can possibly be a scam. This game could be harmless but it exposes information that could be used to compromise your accounts.Â
I see games on Facebook all the time where users willingly provide information that could compromise their accounts. This is just another example.
I saw a post by a friend with a cute image and some text praising their maiden name.
The system of secret questions is flawed.
What is the problem with providing your maiden name?
The problem is the flawed secret question system used by far too many websites. That system asks for personal information that ‘proves’ the user is the rightful owner of the account. One example is “What was your first car?”
In this case, many sites use a user’s mother’s maiden name as a secret question. That might not compromise the user, but consider this scenario:
- A user posts the results with their maiden name
- They have public posts that reference their children.
A determined hacker could then go after accounts belonging to the children.
Note that the example here is most likely not malicious but it is encouraging people to post information that could allow accounts to be compromised.
Also, in today’s environment of women using hyphenated last names, this isn’t a critical security concern as the information may already be easily available. On the other hand, don’t make life easy for hackers and identity thieves.