A benefit of the apps is they work when offline (or away from LTE). With that being said, I recommend a dedicated two factor (2FA) app when setting up this additional security measure.

There are many reports over the years of accounts being hacked by social engineering. SMS messages are not secure, and your account is only secure as the customer service people at your cellular carriers. While macOS and iOS make it easy to use (iOS 12 and macOS Mojave can autofill these from the SMS message), it’s not recommended from a security perspective. When I first started using two-factor authentication, I used the ability to generate the code from an SMS message. While Apple’s technology is great for securing access to your Apple devices and services, it doesn’t work with other services like Google and Amazon.

While Apple’s method is easier for the masses, I do wish they had the option of using the technology that other apps used. Once you approve the login, a six-digit code will pop up, and you’ll input that on the new device.Īn example of when this would occur is if you were logging into on your work laptop, and you’d get an alert on your iPhone and iPad to approve the login and get the code. Instead of using a third-party solution to generate a code, you’ll receive an alert on another one of your registered devices. They’d need access to your two-factor authentication database in order to access the current code.Īpple has two-factor authentication built right into iOS and macOS, but they implement it in a slightly different way. By enabling two-factor authentication on websites that support it, a hacker wouldn’t be able to log in just using your username and password. The secondary code can be generated in multiple ways (more on that later) and changes every thirty seconds. With most implementations, you will log in to a website using your normal login, and you will then prompted to input a secondary code. Two-factor authentication can be explained as something you know (your password) and something you have (a smartphone or another authorized device). One of the key things that you can do to minimize the effect these breaches will have on you is to set up and use two-factor (or multi-factor) authentication. It seems like every other month there is a major data breach from major retailers or online properties. Security on the internet has become more important with each passing year.

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