Cover Identity Anomaly: Difference between revisions
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* This is the point of "Security Questions" on websites when you need to reset your password; they're intended to foil someone pretending to be you, by asking questions that only you should know the answer to.
** Some places invert this and actually advise you to put something that is completely wrong(but that nobody would guess) as the answer, for example if the question is "What is your birthday?" put "Puppy", so that if the pretender does find out your info they can't get into your accounts.
* Standard tradecraft for spies when communicating is, to give a hint to their controllers if someone was faking their communications, to have a subtle challenge code that, assuming the spy hadn't gone full [[Double Agent]], would be something the faker wouldn't be able to respond correctly to or even realize they were expected to respond to. The same principle was used for dead-drops: often a legitimate drop required some subtle thing at ''another'' location to
**Like all things this is not infallible. Noor Inayat Khan, [[Religious Bruiser|daughter of a Sufi master]] and [[Badass Princess|descendant]] of a famous [[Warrior-Prince]] was radiowoman to an [[SOE]] ring in France. The spy ring was penetrated but she kept broadcasting long after she knew she was certain to be detected to make sure London knew that her system was compromised. Which indeed won her the George Cross. However when the Germans finally found her they took her by surprise in her ad-hoc safehouse and overcame her to quickly to for her to destroy the equipment. And the Germans were able to imitate her for some time before London gave her up for lost.
* One quick check used in stores to challenge customers who appear too young for the purchase (typically alcohol and/or cigarettes) and might have a fake ID is to ask what year they were born. Someone faking their age is likely to trip up and give their actual birth year or obviously have to stop and think about what year they would have had to have been born to be legal.
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