Two-Factor Authentication is one of the most important ways to secure your accounts. It adds an additional verification step to the login process for your accounts. Instead of entering your username and password just to sign in to an account, a different new code is sent to your phone for use. Every time you log in to your account.
One of the easiest methods of binary authentication is SMS-based, where you receive text with an access code every time you try to sign in to your account. But getting your 2FA authentication code from SMS may expose you to hacking and this will happen if someone stole your smartphone’s SIM card, an old but very recent problem, by stealing your phone number by reassigning it to With a different SIM card, hackers can forward any binary notifications to their devices, allowing them to easily access your accounts, according to the Motherboard report.
Unfortunately it is not difficult for thieves to impersonate your company in front of your mobile phone and steal your mobile number, either by phone call to support customers or find out your social security number.
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“Authenticator apps are not susceptible to this problem, so it’s a safer way to do binary authentication on your accounts,” said Lorrie Cranor, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University and a former technician at the Federal Trade Commission who stole his SIM card in 2016.
The Instagram platform, in particular, has seen a wave of highly disruptive SIM attacks because the platform supports SMS-only authentication, so the company has confirmed that it is updating the binary authentication feature so that it does not rely on SMS and does not require a user’s phone number , By working on a safer approach that will allow users to authenticate binary using security applications such as Google Authenticator, Duo, or Authy, which creates your own security codes to sign in to your account and can not be created on a different phone when a SIM card has penetrated your phone.
Most of the accounts you use today already offer the strongest 2FA binary authentication. There are many third-party applications used for binary authentication, so here’s how to set up your account and make your sign-ins easier:
Google Authenticator and Authy are the most popular authentication applications, but the 1Password and LastPass password managers also offer the same service, and if you use Microsoft systems a lot, you’ll need Microsoft Authenticator. All of these applications are somewhat different, but the basic functionality is the same no matter which application you use.
Instead of sending you an SMS with an inquiry code, each of these applications displays a randomly generated 6-digit code that is updated approximately every 30 seconds and is constantly synced with any service you’re trying to sign in to.
The main feature of these applications is that they provide high security and protection for your accounts because generating verification codes is related to the existence of a physical device rather than your phone number. Applications like Google Authenticator continue to work without the need for an Internet connection or cellular network.
Most of the services and social networking accounts that you want to secure provide this type of binary authentication, called token-based 2FA, except Instagram, which is still adding this feature. You can see a comprehensive list of all services and sites that provide this feature through this link.
How to choose the right app for you:
Google Authenticator offers an experience supported by Google with an excellent security record, while Authy offers more features such as the ability to drag icons from your smartphone, not just your computer or tablet, and also back up your own icons On your cloud storage service, allowing smooth transition when you upgrade your smartphone, but when you use the Google Authenticator app, you’ll need to sync your accounts again when you switch your main device
We will use the Authy app to quickly review how to use a more secure 2FA binary authentication application. These are the same basic steps used in the Google Authenticator app.
Step 1: Download the application Once you open the application, Authy will ask you for your phone number and then send you the registration code either by phone call, SMS or other device. You will then switch to each account you wish to associate with the binary authentication application. To switch from relying on SMS to applications like Authy or Google Authenticator. You will have to repeat the setup several times in all your online accounts in order to protect them.
We will use a Dropbox account as an example. Once logged in from your computer, click the ID icon icon in the upper right corner. From there, go to Settings, then Security … Switch to 2-step verification, click Edit, choose Use a Phone app, and you’ll see a QR code. Click Add account on Authy, turn your smartphone to the screen, and your Dropbox account will be securely protected.
Now you can secure your accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Evernote and other accounts that each use a slightly different version of their lists, go to Settings and click on words like “privacy” or “security” until you find the binary authentication option.
To add more devices to your Authy account, go to Settings, then Devices, and click Allow Multi-device Allow here to authenticate anything else you need. Authy also allows you to protect your application with a 4-digit PIN to prevent people from accessing your icons even if they steal your device.