A Question of Security

"Account number, please?" the customer service representative asks. I glance down at my latest statement and read if off.

"And with whom am I speaking?" she continues, I tell her my name. Then the big question: "For security purposes, what is the property address?"

What sort of "security" is that, exactly, I wonder, as I glance down at my statement on which my address is printed in friendly 12-point Arial. If I'd stolen this statement out of my neighbor's mailbox, wouldn't I be able to answer all of these questions? Obviously it's no security at all.

Now if she called me on a phone number from my file, then perhaps she could have reasonable confidence as to my identity. Assuming, of course, that I wasn't a guest in the house up to some mischief - which is a big assumption to make from a security perspective. But even so - the phone rings, and someone claiming to be a customer representative is on the line, now I have to wonder who is it really?

An external, third-party identity verification system is what's needed, not only for Web sites and other electronic transactions but for phone calls too. More on this later.