Requiring a password question and answer provides an additional layer of security when retrieving or resetting a user's password. When creating a user name, a user can supply a question and answer that can later be used to retrieve or reset a forgotten password. If the SqlMembershipProvider.EnablePasswordReset property and the SqlMembershipProvider.EnablePasswordRetrieval property are both false, the value of the SqlMembershipProvider.RequiresQuestionAndAnswer property is irrelevant.

For more information, see SqlMembershipProvider.ResetPassword(string, string) and SqlMembershipProvider.GetPassword(string, string).