What's All This Talk About Two Factor Authentication (2FA) And Why Should You Have It to Protect Yourself?

What is 2FA And How Can It Help You Prevent Being Hacked?

It's only a matter of time before your email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn profile - really any social media profile - gets hacked. Not IF, but WHEN.

Let that sink in for a moment...

Logging in to any system usually involves a username and password. Think of that password as 1 form of authentication. What if you had to enter two passwords - would that be two-factor authentication?

No. Why not? Because it's not a different TYPE of authentication. 2FA is when you use two completely different types of authentication to significantly enhance your security posture. This is also sometimes referred to as MFA - multi-factor authentication.

What are some of the many forms of authentication?

• Something you ARE (such as your height, weight, or I.Q. score)
• Something you HAVE (a device, like a smart phone)
• Something you KNOW (such as a code or password)
• Something you DO (draw a design, or speak in your distinctive, unique voice)

So two-factor authentication is a simple technique that requires two different types of authentication to drastically improve your account security.

Get in the habit of using 2FA to protect your social media accounts

And fortunately, nearly every major social media service allows you to turn it on - using a smart code that is sent to your smart phone. At least, that's the easiest way to enable 2FA.

Sure it might force you to glance at your phone and type in a 6 digit code as part of the login process, but that's the point - a hacker won't have the code unless they have your smart phone!

Now you know. Turn it on. Use it. And avoid being hacked and all of the massive embarrassment that goes along with it!

I hope this was helpful. If so, say so in the comments!

PS: Don't let 2FA lull you into using weak passwords as your first form of authentication. Continue to use (or start using) strong, complex passwords, along with 2FA. Otherwise, you really only have 1.5FA, and that wouldn't be good.

PPS: Here's a link on how to enable 2FA on AWS