sekretetsfråga

A sekretetsfråga, which translates to "secrecy question" or "secret question," is a security measure used to verify a user's identity. It is commonly employed in online services, such as banking, email, and social media platforms, as a fallback authentication method or as a way to recover a forgotten password.

The user typically chooses a question from a predefined list or creates their own. Examples of common security questions include "What was your mother's maiden name?", "What was the name of your first pet?", or "In what city were you born?". The user then provides a specific answer to this question. This answer is stored securely by the service provider.

When a user needs to prove their identity, such as when logging in after multiple failed attempts or initiating a password reset, they will be prompted to answer their chosen sekretetsfråga. If the provided answer matches the stored answer, the user is granted access or allowed to proceed with the recovery process.

While sekretetsfrågor are a widely used security feature, their effectiveness can be debated. The chosen questions and their answers might be easily guessable or discoverable through social engineering or by accessing publicly available information. For this reason, many services now offer more robust security options, such as two-factor authentication, in addition to or as a replacement for sekretetsfrågor. It is generally advised to choose unique and less obvious answers for security questions and to avoid using information that is easily accessible to others.