ItHasToBeOneWord



  • A while ago I signed up for online banking with a well-known former building society, let's call them "X".

    It was the usual stuff, including the requirement for me to answer a bunch of 'secret' questions, that anyone who wants to find out the answers to can do so easily. (Seriously, stop asking for mother's maiden name when LOADS OF MOTHERS ARE NOT MARRIED)

    There was a slight twist. All the answers had to be one word, with no punctuation. So New York would become newyork, Iowa Valley Elementary would become iowavalleyelementary and so on. A bit odd, but no big deal.

    It also asked for a 'custom' secret question. Finally, a chance for something a bit more secure. Naturally, the answer had to be one word.

    Guess what else had to be one word? The custom secret QUESTION. That's right, you can't enter "Who was my driving instructor?", it has to be "whowasmydrivinginstructor" (no punctuation either)

    Well actually, it can't be that either. Not only must the question be ONE WORD, there's a LENGTH LIMIT. So it has to be "drivinginstructor".
     



  • Why can't that be as much fun in Belgium? :(

    The security system goes generally

    - either a Public/Private cryptographic key authentification system (private key being on local hard disk protected by local password)

    - or a variant of the electronic independant calculator where you enter the server provided numer, your pin and you get a result

     My bank don't even know what my mother's maiden name is!
     



  • @tchize said:

    - either a Public/Private cryptographic key authentification system

     Do you want to expandify your vocabulation? :-)

     



  • @tchize said:

    Why can't that be as much fun in Belgium? :(

    ...

    - either a Public/Private cryptographic key authentification system (private key being on local hard disk protected by local password)

    Because companies in America treat their users with the utmost contempt and condescension.  For an American bank to let its customers use PK cryptography would be to cede that those users are not total idiots.  That would erode the confidence of the CEO, who is most likely not capable of operating a computer at that level*.

    * "that level" being: installing software and following simple instructions



  • @apetrelli said:

    @tchize said:

    - either a Public/Private cryptographic key authentification system

     Do you want to expandify your vocabulation? :-)

    He has a (poor) excuse, since that's the French spelling, and Belgium is approximately French. 



  • @djork said:

    @tchize said:

    Why can't that be as much fun in Belgium? :(

    ...

    - either a Public/Private cryptographic key authentification system (private key being on local hard disk protected by local password)

    Because companies in America treat their users with the utmost contempt and condescension.  For an American bank to let its customers use PK cryptography would be to cede that those users are not total idiots.  That would erode the confidence of the CEO, who is most likely not capable of operating a computer at that level*.

    * "that level" being: installing software and following simple instructions

    They are just doing what is cheapest for them.  The costs of providing hand-holding-support for the many people who can't or don't want to read/follow instructions would be huge.  Maybe I'm jaded, but I think that many people just refuse to try anything unfamiliar to them without looking to see if it is actually complicated or not.



  • @Jetts said:

    They are just doing what is cheapest for them.  The costs of providing hand-holding-support for the many people who can't or don't want to read/follow instructions would be huge.

    And the cost of the massive and increasing levels of fraud caused by insecure online banking is [i]not[/i] huge?



  • @Iago said:

    @Jetts said:

    They are just doing what is cheapest for them.  The costs of providing hand-holding-support for the many people who can't or don't want to read/follow instructions would be huge.

    And the cost of the massive and increasing levels of fraud caused by insecure online banking is [i]not[/i] huge?

    Cost(Insurance + fix problems as they arrive) <  Cost(Solution + Handle all possibilities upfront)

    imho

    Anyone who does project management will say this isn't true and risk management will save you more on a one-off project, but I think that from an operations standpoint it would start to go back the other way in the long run.



  • @Iago said:

    @Jetts said:

    They are just doing what is cheapest for them.  The costs of providing hand-holding-support for the many people who can't or don't want to read/follow instructions would be huge.

    And the cost of the massive and increasing levels of fraud caused by insecure online banking is [i]not[/i] huge?

    The question here is cost for who.

    Providing the support costs the bank.  Fraud on a bank account costs the client, much cheaper for the bank.

    And before you say the client will switch banks, remember that there is someone else switching banks and the client count stays the same in the long run.  There isn't a single US bank that really cares about securing your personal money, just theirs. 



  • @Iago said:

    @Jetts said:

    They are just doing what is cheapest for them.  The costs of providing hand-holding-support for the many people who can't or don't want to read/follow instructions would be huge.

    And the cost of the massive and increasing levels of fraud caused by insecure online banking is [i]not[/i] huge?

    You need to think like a PHB, the fraud cost is put on a different budget.

    Seriously, I was once told "support cost is not put on out department budget while development cost are so we are shipping it like this" when I complained that a application we were shipping contained several major data corruption bugs.



  • @asuffield said:

    @apetrelli said:
    @tchize said:

    - either a Public/Private cryptographic key authentification system

     Do you want to expandify your vocabulation? :-)

    He has a (poor) excuse, since that's the French spelling, and Belgium is approximately French. 

    Yes, am French speaking, could someone explain what my mistake(s) is(are) in this sentence please? Thanks. 



  • Authentification is not a word in English, which wouldn't be so funny if it hadn't been posted recently on the front page.



  • To be completificallial, the correct English word is "authentication"



  • @tchize said:

    @asuffield said:
    @apetrelli said:
    @tchize said:

    - either a Public/Private cryptographic key authentification system

     Do you want to expandify your vocabulation? :-)

    He has a (poor) excuse, since that's the French spelling, and Belgium is approximately French. 

    Yes, am French speaking, could someone explain what my mistake(s) is(are) in this sentence please? Thanks. 

    You can always put "authentication" to replace "authentification" :) and you can also use an editor with a spell-checker enabled to ensure your words are on the right track.

    Anyway, your one word story was pretty interesting.



  • @tchize said:

    @asuffield said:
    @apetrelli said:
    @tchize said:

    - either a Public/Private cryptographic key authentification system

     Do you want to expandify your vocabulation? :-)

    He has a (poor) excuse, since that's the French spelling, and Belgium is approximately French. 

    Yes, am French speaking, could someone explain what my mistake(s) is(are) in this sentence please? Thanks. 

    There is nothing 'ifi' in 'authentication'.

    English words: 

    Authentic

    Authenticate

    Authentication

    Not English words:

    Authentify (this is a made-up word from a movie, which has been used in product names a few times)

    Authentification (this is a French form)



  • @KattMan said:

    @Iago said:
    @Jetts said:

    They are just doing what is cheapest for them.  The costs of providing hand-holding-support for the many people who can't or don't want to read/follow instructions would be huge.

    And the cost of the massive and increasing levels of fraud caused by insecure online banking is [i]not[/i] huge?

    The question here is cost for who.

    Providing the support costs the bank.  Fraud on a bank account costs the client, much cheaper for the bank.

    And before you say the client will switch banks, remember that there is someone else switching banks and the client count stays the same in the long run.  There isn't a single US bank that really cares about securing your personal money, just theirs. 

    LOL at the various posts criticising the 'US'. I am British, this was a UK bank. Sorry for causing confusion by using US locations as examples.

    In the UK, fraud on an account costs the bank unless the client can be shown to have been grossly negligent. And apparently they're quite sharp, at least on debit card fraud. Several friends have actually been telephoned by their bank, asking "Did you just try to withdraw a thousand euros from a cashpoint in Spain?" or suchlike.
     



  • You're mothers maiden name is your mothers maiden name. what has marriage got to do with that?



  • @holli said:

    You're mothers maiden name is your mothers maiden name. what has marriage got to do with that?

    Psssh. YO MAMA! 



  • In German, it's also "Authentifikation", so if I should ever usify that wordification, just replacify it in your mind with "authentication" and don't startify a whole threadification around it ;-)

    BTW, I think that the closeness, both in pronouncation and meaning, to "identify / identification", increases the chance that ESL people use that word. 



  • @holli said:

    You're mothers maiden name is your mothers maiden name. what has marriage got to do with that?

    That the idea of it as a 'security' question relies on your mother having married, adopted a new surname, and her maiden name not being known to everyone. If she has not changed her surname, then the 'security' question becomes "Mother's Surname", which is known to anyone who knows your mother and is quite probably the same as your own surname.
     



  • @ammoQ said:

    In Germanoid, it's also "Authentifikation", so if I shouldifle ever usicate that wordication, just replaciate it in your mind with "authentication" and don't starticate a whole threadible around itifal ;-)

    BTW, I think that the closifity, bothible in pronouncicatifacation and meanation, to "identicate / identifation", increasates the chanceation that ESL people usate that wordical

    There, I fixed the grammar for you.


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