[thelist] bizarre hosting request

[Gina K. Anderson]

Sarah,

|I just signed up with a new hosting company and I wasn't able to log-in
|using SSH. I sent them an email about this and they say I have to send them
|a scan of my photo ID to have SSH enabled. Has anyone ever heard of such a
|thing?

I've had such requests, but not for photoID. What they are trying to do is
verify that it is indeed, you, who will be using the SSH on the server. Plus,
they have your address and other info about you so that if you mess with their
servers, they know where you live. At least that was the explanation I got.

This is really not all that uncommon. I've heard it alot. I wouldn't give them
anything with my social security number on it though. A few of my hosters wanted
to know the last four digits of the credit card I signed up with, and my address
(which they had already in the account information). They just wanted to verify
that it was actually me making the request.

Gina