When you select a password, you might choose to store it in a password manager, write it down, or commit it to memory see for some advice. Sometimes, however, things go wrong: You find yourself without access to your password manager, you lose the paper on which you recorded your passwords, or you forget a password you thought you memorized. Or maybe someone tries to break into one of your accounts, and after a few unsuccessful attempts at entering your password, the site locks out further access until you can confirm your identity. Sometimes—especially in lower-security situations such as access to an online publication or discussion forum—the provider lets you click a link that results in your existing password, a new password, or password-reset instructions being sent to the email address you have on file. Unfortunately, password-reset messages and verification questions come with their own problems and risks. You can reduce your chances of being hacked—or being unable to respond correctly to one of these questions—by following a few simple tips. Prevent password-reset mischief Of all your passwords, the one for your email account may be the most valuable. A hacker who guessed or stole just that one password could unlock many other accounts and do all sorts of damage. You can limit your risk here in a couple of ways. Use this account only when prompted to supply an email address for the purpose of verifying or resetting your passwords. Take extra care with your email account password: Be sure to choose an especially secure password for your email account. If you ever wrote a blog entry or a Facebook post about your first pet, your favorite iforgot apple com to reset password/security questions, or other common security question topics, those facts are in the public domain too. To make matters worse, some questions invite ambiguous answers, which could work against you. Where did you meet your spouse. Years from now, will you remember which answer you gave. So, what was the name of my first pet. I loved my 1986 Toyota Recalibration Cantaloupe. I know one security expert who says he normally uses the same pseudo-random answer everywhere, although some companies including Apple require you to provide different answers to each of several questions—meaning you have even more password-like data to keep track of. Of course, you can write down your answers or store them in a password manager, but then the same problems that prevent you from accessing your password could prevent you from accessing your security answers. You might make up a little story for yourself about fictional parents, cars, pets, and the like that you can memorize and then draw on when asked for security answers on different sites. If that should happen, both you and the person on the other end will have an easier time coping with a series of plain-English words than a bunch of random characters. How to change your security questions and answers Each service that uses security questions has its own procedure for choosing the questions and answers and for changing them after the fact. Apple asks you to choose three security questions and provide a different answer for each one. On the left, choose Password and Security. Answer your existing security questions, and click Continue. Then you can choose new questions and answers remember, no two answers can be the same and also edit your Rescue Email Address if you like. Google lets you select a security question or write your own. Update your Google info: If you have a account for Gmail and other serviceslog in as you normally would. Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner of the window and choose Settings from the iforgot apple com to reset password/security questions menu. Click Accounts and Import followed by Change password recovery options. Under Security question, click Edit. Choose one of the existing security questions or write your own, and fill in your answer. If you also want to change your secondary address, click the Edit link in the 'Recovery email address' section and fill in the new address.
