I am pretty out of date on this, but, last I knew, banks were liable for processing checks that didn't bear a reasonable facsimile of the signature on file against the account. Since the golden rule, in the sense of he who has the gold, prevails, it has been held that if the signature is the same name that is on the account card, it is close enough. For that reason, I have always had my name printed differently on checks than is on the card. Whether that is of any use today, I have had the pleasure of not finding out, although I noticed a few years ago a check I hadn't signed at all went through quite nicely. Since it was for some sort of utility bill and was correct, I just winked as well.
Like PAT, I write very few paper checks these days. I moved across state lines over three years ago and have never had new ones printed. Since all I have used them for is to pay for services already rendered, it hasn't been a problem. I would guess it would be hard to get cigarettes and cash back with one, however.
It wouldn't surprise me to see paper checks go away. Even point of sale debit cards are more secure, and we are all being charged the skim off for credit cards whether we use them or not.
Looks like a bull market for wire fraud! I had a rather large ACH transfer executed in the wrong direction a while back. The company that screwed it up managed to straighten it out, but the bank that was supposed to receive funds, and instead disbursed them, didn't do squat. Apparently there is no security in that system beyond trusting those who are admitted, which is pretty much all the big corporations.