Monday, October 10, 2016

Two Factor Authentication - Use it!

Taking a break from my normal Bible-based blogs to provide information about the importance of two-factor authentication for any account you login to online. If you aren't using two-factor authentication, you need to start right now!



What is Two-Factor Authentication?

Two-factor authentication is a process by which you utilize two different sources for authenticating with an online service. For example, having a one-time code sent to your phone upon logging into a website that you must provide the website with in order to complete your login. Google has a great page that explains it in detail.

Why is Two-Factor Authentication Important?

When it comes to securing your information online, you can never be perfectly secure. Devious people will always try to stay one step ahead of cyber security. While having two-factor authentication may not keep you completely secure (as the Black Lives Matter activist @deray found out), it definitely is better than not having at all!

The idea is that it's much harder for a bad actor to compromise your account when they have to have access to an additional piece of information that is separate from your password.

Set it up now!

I've listed a couple of websites where two-factor authentication is available. If you have an account on these websites, set up two-factor authentication now! Another great site that has information about websites that use two-factor authentication is Turn On 2FA.

  1. Google (Gmail, YouTube and other Google products)
  2. Yahoo
  3. Facebook
  4. Twitter
  5. Instagram
  6. Snapchat
  7. Bank Of America (They call it SafePass)
Bottom line, if you use an online service, look for their two-factor authentication documentation and turn it on!