Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!hayes.fai.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: dspeed@well.uucp (Dave Speed) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Voice Mail Passwords Message-ID: <12026@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 11 Sep 90 03:09:47 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 17 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 637, Message 7 of 11 I had the pleasure of being lectured on voice mail today by a Pac Tel employee. She informed our group that we would need to choose a "password" for our mail boxes and suggested that it would be easy if you used the PIN from your bank ATM account. Thankfully most present didn't know what a PIN was. I brought the issue up that this was terrible security and that Bell was courting disaster with recommending this activity. She didn't see the problem. On a similar note, our local grocery chain has installed pseudo ATM's for banking from the checkout line. Perhaps I'm paranoid, but I don't see any advantage (to *me*) in giving the merchant my bank number and PIN. Am I being silly ?