Are You Using 2-Factor Authentication On Your Email or Social Media Accounts Yet?

in #security6 years ago

Securing your email accounts or for that matter most personal social media accounts takes just a couple of minutes and yet many of us don't do it! It's strange because everyday we hear stories of accounts being compromised, yet our response is inaction.

Many times on Steemit.Chat people reach out asking for help with account recovery. In some cases they have also lost access to their email accounts. You could greatly reduce your chances of an email hack by securing your accounts with a combination of hard-to-crack password and 2-Factor authentication.

Enabling 2-Factor authentication takes only a couple of minutes and you are protected! Don't make it easier for thief to hack into your account. Phishing is one of the most common ways that most people give away their financial details as well as account access without realising they are.

Importance of securing your accounts cannot be stated enough number of times. People are generally careless about account security. On Steemit we see all kinds of issues from people sharing their master keys on their memo accidentally to forgetting the email they used to register their Steemit account.

Setting up 2-factor authentication is straight forward and easy. Apps such as Authy makes it easier than ever before to improve your account security and thwart any attempt by hackers out there to brute force their way into your sensitive data. Just got into your account settings and sign-in security and enable 2-factor authentication. If you use a Yubikey then you can use that instead of Authy or even higher level of security.

2-factor is nothing but a second layer of security where even if your password is compromised, the hacker still needs access to your phone or a secure device to retrieve your 2-factor codes. With an app like Authy you can easily sync across multiple devices and never worry about losing access to your data.

Earlier today, I had one of my friend's notify me that there was an unauthorised attempt to log-in to his Instagram account from a location in France-or so he was notified as he tried logging-in. It was an account he hadn't used in a while and I found out that he hadn't setup 2-factor on it and didn't know what it was.

Personally, all my accounts are secured with 2-factor authentication at the very least. It's important you do this when you are on social media managing multiple accounts. If you haven't enabled Authy or similar 2-factor authentication what are you waiting for?


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I had 8 ETH stolen from me - and until today I have no idea what happened. One guess is that somebody has hacked my gmail account - and I am not using 2FA there until today. I think I should probably quickly change...

I use Google Authenticator on all accounts that offer it. Using a cellphone # is not a good idea because it is easy for impersonators to call your carrier and have it changed without your knowledge. Google Authenticator is great because it is attached to your device and your device only. Without the physical phone, there is no way to gain access.

I was not aware that you can use the Authenticator without a phone number. This is very insightful. Thanks.

I don't but sounds convincing. Thanks for always guiding people with valuable guidance.

Am hearing this for the first time, surprising hearing that my email account can be hack.
I keep leaning everyday on steemit.
Keep on sharing great information like this.

Of course, 2 Factor Authentication is a strong way to protect our sensitive data over the internet. These days hacking is quite common and we should use some secure source to protect our data.This post is very useful.Althought we can not compromise on our sensitive data.

i use Google Authenticator and it offers many sites on his plattform! i can really recommend it! its easy to use and helps u to secure your accounts.

We don´t do it because of laziness, but we should!!

I use it on all my accounts

This is the best security kit so far

I started using 2FA on my GMail after I lost my phone in Lisbon at STEEMFest... I have no idea why I never put it on before, I feel much safer

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