Joseph Miller's Blog

I’ve been meaning to blog this forever.  Here’s the sign in process for my US bank account.  Step 1, enter user name and password.

That’s pretty much it.  Punch in your password and you or whoever gleams that your password is your dog’s name are in.  This is pretty weak considering what’s at stake.

Contrast with the sign in process for my Japanese bank account.  Step 1, enter your account number, pin number, and password.

Oh yeah, it also defaults to forcing you to key in everything with your mouse instead of the keypad and the option to use the keypad doesn’t work in Firefox.  I could also give you all three credentials right now and you still wouldn’t be able to get into much account because of step 2, which requires entering three random keys from a bank-issued security card.

Finally I’m in.  The Japanese style is clearly more time consuming, but I think it’s worth the piece of mind.  What do you think?