Obscure Secret Answer for Password Resets

Last Updated on August 2, 2017 by Rakesh Gupta

After Spring’14 release you can hide your answer to a password reset question. When you answer a security question, let’s example when resetting your password, the answer is normally shown in plain text. Answers to security questions can now be hidden  when you type. I will go through both (Old and New) feature in details one-by-one. This feature available in Developer, Performance, Enterprise, Professional, Contact Manager, Group, Unlimited and  Database.com editions.

Old Feature ( Answer not hidden)

When ever you reset your password by clicking on forgot your password available in Salesforce.com login page (login.Salesforce.com). Salesforce will send you one email notification with a link to reset your password. Click on the link and it will open a new window where you have to enter an answer to your security question. Currently, security answer is shown in a plain text field so any body can see what you entered. Same as below screen

Answers to security questions can now be hidden (New Feature)

After Spring’14 we can hide answers to security questions as you type. To do that follow the below steps

1) Click on Name | Setup | Administration setup | Security Controls | Password Policies
2) Select “Obscure Secret Answer for Password Resets” to enable this feature.

3) Click on Save.

It’s time to test this feature

1) Now try to reset your password by following “login.Salesforce.com” or “test.Salesforce.com“, and click on forgot your password link

2) Salesforce will send you an email notification with password reset link, like below screen shot

3) Now enter answers to security questions, as you type in this field it will be hidden, Same as below screen shot.

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