Two-factor authentication is one of the most effective ways to increase the security of your online accounts.
What is two-factor authentication (2FA)?
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a security mechanism which protects access to your online accounts. It adds an extra layer of security, on top of your password, when you log into your account. When 2FA is enabled, your password alone is not enough to access your account. You will need another piece of information, which depends on the type of 2FA used. For example, you may receive a one-time code via SMS to your phone number, which you will need to type into the browser while logging in. Alternatively, you may need to get the code from an application installed on your phone that keeps generating new codes at frequent intervals. As an other option yet, you may receive a push notification to your phone which will show up a screen containing the login details and asking you to tap a button in order to approve the particular login.
Why is it important?
When it comes to security, passwords are not famous for getting a good mark. People on average choose easy to guess passwords. Moreover, there are many ways through which an attacker can get hold of your password. For an online account without 2FA protection, your password is all the attacker needs in order to gain access and abuse your online data. However, once you enable 2FA for your account, an attacker who steals your passwords will not be able to get in unless he has access to your phone. There are exceptions to this, but nonetheless, this raises the bar quite high for the attacker.
How can you enable 2FA for your accounts?
More and more online services offer the option to increase the security of your account by enabling 2FA. The specifics of how to do this depend on the particular service.
2FA is good for security but it is rather cumbersome :(
Sad, but true… As it often happens, increased security comes at a cost. In this case, 2FA is not as easy as just typing in your password. At Futurae, we acknowledged this problem and came up with Adaptive Authentication, a unique 2FA solution that is as easy to use as just typing in your password! Check out the video on our home page to learn more.
Is there more?
As an additional useful tip, try getting yourself a password manager. Password managers are applications that can automatically generate and store strong, unique passwords for your online accounts. With a password manager you will only have to remember a single password: the one that unlocks the password manager itself. The password manager will take care of the rest of your passwords so you don’t have to worry about them. Some password managers come with cool features such as cloud sync, so that you can easily access your passwords across all your devices.
Want even more?
There are many more things that you can do in order to increase your online security, which we will discuss in future posts. In the meantime check out https://securityplanner.org which can provide more tips about your online safety.
