Given that Media Temple's recent security breach was caused by storing plain text passwords (http://michaeltorbert.com/blog/media-temple-hacked/), I'm not sure what their new "Support PINs" accomplish that makes them more secure than a SHA1 hash.<p>Today's email from Media Temple:<p>(mt) Media Temple has enhanced the security of your account with a new feature called "Support PINs". This new feature was requested by users like you desiring stronger measures for the verbal privacy of their passwords.<p>"Support PINs" allow you to optionally generate a temporary pin code inside the AccountCenter that will permit you access to (mt)'s Customer Center. This measure keeps primary passwords verbally and electronically private, and encrypted at all times.<p>You can learn how to use Support PINs by visiting our KnowledgeBase.
The Support PIN’s are another option for accessing our customer support over the phone without the need to share your Account Center password.<p>Support PIN’s are temporary and expire shortly, allowing them to be a secure method of authenticating a customer when calling in for support.<p>We’ve created PIN’s in an ongoing security initiative and to address the desires of our customers.<p>You can simply login to your AC and generate a temporary PIN to share with our support staff.