What is two factor authentication? Two-factor authentication allows you to sign into websites and services in a more secure and safe way.
If we speak statistically, most people keep very awful passwords which mostly include “123456” or simple “password” when carried out a survey in 2017. However, this is nothing new and these passwords have been around for a long time and increasingly common.
Companies are being hacked constantly in the 2018 and this hacking will not stop anytime soon. Every time a company or an account gets hacked, their password and details get stolen and they end up being online for everyone to see. To prevent this from happening you can use Two-factor authentication.
This method is increasingly adopted by other companies and website and this method allows you to provide two forms of identification which allows you to confirm who you are. Usually the first factor required in this method is password and the second factor is addition of security.
To make this method easier to use the second factor is optional token of control by using an email, list of pin or a text to your cell phone. Many websites have taken their toll on this two-factor authentication and allow a message or a call sent to your cell phone when you log in.
A great example of this method is Facebook. If you try to enter into Facebook and enter your password this two-factor authentication will not allow you to log in and check your newsfeed until the code sent to your phone is also entered. Facebook even launched a U2F authentication that simplifies two-factor authentication by using a specified NFC device or an USB.
This method is a more secure way of helping you protect your personal data and if a hacker gets ahold of your password they won’t be able to have access to your private information without the extra key. A malicious party does not require a password only they are always in search of something more such as the user’s biometric data or something more physical as a mobile phone.
This U2F authentication is much better and more secure way than relying on a single password or even a two-factor authentication. The two-factor authentication is also a secure method as the secret questions can be very tricky but if you keep an easy question and an easy answer can be reaserched or guessed without difficulty.
Some very famous websites such as Reddit, Instagram and Pinterest have made use of this two-factor authentication and they can be turned on through the security tab in the settings.
The WhatsApp application recently came under fire due to the end-to-end encryption it introduced providing your chats with security and it also introduced Two-factor authentication which comes in handy if someone tries to install WhatsApp under your account; they won’t be able to without entering the two-factor authentication password.
This Two-factor authentication method is very handy to protect your data from hackers and malicious groups.
Source: AskLeo
