August 16, 2012

Second Life Password Reset Epic Fail

As you may have noticed, I've been tilting at the "Bring back last names" issue in Second Life for awhile now. Here's the JIRA feature request in case you feel like perusing the some 200+ comments....

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-7125

So anyway, recently, someone forgot their password. Well guess what? You need to know the FIRST names of 3 friends AND you have to answer them in order! But what if those friends are all named "Resident"?? Well this is what you get...
  1. Can't remember password
  2. Go To SL website to request
  3. Confirmation of hint:  Check
  4. Next question: "Three last names of your friends are listed below, what first names belong to them?"
        Answer A: ___________ Resident
        Answer B: ___________ Resident
        Answer C: ___________ Resident 
I mean seriously, this is just laughable but totally unfunny at the same time. I guess the rule is, guard that password with your First life. You may not get a Second bite at the apple. I mean seriously Linden Lab. WTF?

And yes, the problem with this has been made into a JIRA too.

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-4884

7 comments:

  1. I guess I best make a screen copy of my friendlist...

    ReplyDelete
  2. A screen shot won't help you if any number of your friends have the last name "Resident" (or no last name as Linden Lab considers it).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Snick, I long ago realized the only way to ensure my access was to write down my password(s) in a secure location. Hints, reset requests, and all that nonsense are garbage...LL's process is particularly onerous, but other sites are nearly as bad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I use a freeware proggie called KeePass to save all my passwords. I'd be lost without it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Most likely person to forget password: Newbie
    Most likely person to have no friends: Newbie
    Most likely person to have absolutely no clue what to do: Newbie

    So now, LL, whatcha gonna do??

    Correction. Most likely person to have absolutely no clue what to do: Anyone at LL.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh crap...

    Of course, I have a character I haven't logged into in over a year, and yesterday I tried requesting a password reset three times. The thing is, I never got the response e-mail from them! Makes me wonder if the entire process is broken on their end.

    (And yes, I checked that this is the right e-mail address because a friend sent a message on SL and it showed up in my inbox. I also checked my junk folder.)

    Even if I do get a response, I had forgotten all about this validation check. I have a horrible memory for names; I rely extensively on contact lists to help me with that. After being away for over a year and losing touch with most of the folks I hang out with on there, my chances of passing this test are slim at best.

    ReplyDelete

All thoughts are welcome.