I read the article at http://redtape.msnbc.com/2008/08/almost-everyone.html about the "Forgot your password" link to reset your password as being a possible attack vector. I think they discussed the security issue quite well and also pointed out that there are no reports that this method has been used widely to attack accounts. I know that in all the time that I have had a Hotmail account I have twice gotten e-mails about a password reset that I didn't initiate. The first time I ignored the e-mail until I got a reminder about 10 days later that it was about to expire, the second time I immediately clicked on the link stating I hadn't started the password reset. I also went and changed my password just in case someone had compromised my account.

The article has some good advice about not using obvious answers to the reset questions. I think this might be one case where my generation has a lot more latitude in choosing a non-obvious answer. While my birth date and mother's maiden name might be easy to find on the Internet, when I was a teenager there was no blogging so I would assume outside of the people that I went to school with and a few close family members nobody would know the name of my first girlfriend. It might be easy for a hacker to guess the answer to that question but hopefully it would take them a few tries and the back end systems would be alerted well before they guessed the correct answer.

Another tactic that I have used is to pick an "obvious" question but then give it a false answer. As was pointed out in a recent issue of the RISKS digest, they aren't validating the answer, just that you can type in the same value twice. I use the name of my pet as a question but rarely if ever use Max which was the name of my dog but instead make up other "names". The best are a semi random set of number and letters that aren't even a name so if someone is running a dictionary attack of the most common pet names your answer will not be in the dictionary.

To help me not forget the password in the first place, or to remember the answer if I need to I can always look at my Password Minder file. The thing I like is it will automatically generate random passwords for me and has a notes area where I can write down my secret question and answer. The data (both passwords and comments) is encrypted on the disk so I feel pretty safe about it not being stolen from me.