One of the most important and perhaps decisive measure for the security of website accounts is the two-step verification, the one that requires a variable code to be inserted after the password to be sure that who is logging in is the owner of the account and not another person.
We have therefore seen how to use secure authentication to access Facebook, Google, Amazon and other online services that support this option.
The variable code that is required to access is usually received, at the moment when it is needed, via SMS received on the mobile phone, but it can also be generated by an application.
The most popular application to secure web accounts, to be used to generate two-factor authentication codes, is Google Authenticator, which helps protect all accounts from password theft and works for almost all popular accounts. like Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Microsoft and almost everyone else.
The Google Authenticator application can be installed on any Android smartphone and also on the iPhone and works by generating a random code that is used to verify the identity of those who access an online service.
The code has a temporary validity of about 30 seconds, after which a new code is generated with the previous one which becomes unusable.
Using the Google Authenticator app compared to SMS in two-factor authentication is safer, because it prevents the possibility that an attacker would have hacked the SMS addressing, which seems not to be so difficult for those who are experts in these things.
A small initial setup is required to use Google Authenticator .
First of all, you need to download the application, from the iPhone App Store or from the Google Play Store for Android phones.
Next, you need to turn on 2-step verification in your Google Account.
Then open the Google Account security options, (from the //myaccount.google.com/security page) where you can find, under the Access section, the link of the two-step verification and then press the Configure button under the App section Authenticator .
select the type of phone, if Android or iPhone, go ahead and note that a QR code is generated.
Then open the Google Authenticator application on your phone and press the + button to bring up the option to read a barcode.
Point the camera at the QR code generated on the PC screen and add the account.
In case of problems, you can click, under the QR code, the " you can't read it " link to generate an alphanumeric code that can be entered manually into Google Authenticator, using the code entry option.
At this point, every time you access your Google account, you are asked for the code generated by the application, readable on your smartphone.
You can activate the option to remember access so that you do not have to repeat the authentication on your PC or on trusted devices such as the mobile phone itself.
Remember that,
In the options of the Google Authenticator application you can open the settings and synchronize the time, to be sure that the generation of the codes is correct.
In the account security options of the sites that support two-step verification, it is almost always possible to obtain the QR code or the alphanumeric code so that you can use Google Authenticator.
NOTE: If you cannot use your phone, you can always use one of the backup codes that must be printed from the Google two-factor authentication configuration page.
For many accounts, however, the possibility remains to receive the variable verification code via SMS, if Google Authenticator cannot be used.
We have therefore seen how to use secure authentication to access Facebook, Google, Amazon and other online services that support this option.
The variable code that is required to access is usually received, at the moment when it is needed, via SMS received on the mobile phone, but it can also be generated by an application.
The most popular application to secure web accounts, to be used to generate two-factor authentication codes, is Google Authenticator, which helps protect all accounts from password theft and works for almost all popular accounts. like Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Microsoft and almost everyone else.
The Google Authenticator application can be installed on any Android smartphone and also on the iPhone and works by generating a random code that is used to verify the identity of those who access an online service.
The code has a temporary validity of about 30 seconds, after which a new code is generated with the previous one which becomes unusable.
Using the Google Authenticator app compared to SMS in two-factor authentication is safer, because it prevents the possibility that an attacker would have hacked the SMS addressing, which seems not to be so difficult for those who are experts in these things.
A small initial setup is required to use Google Authenticator .
First of all, you need to download the application, from the iPhone App Store or from the Google Play Store for Android phones.
Next, you need to turn on 2-step verification in your Google Account.
Then open the Google Account security options, (from the //myaccount.google.com/security page) where you can find, under the Access section, the link of the two-step verification and then press the Configure button under the App section Authenticator .
select the type of phone, if Android or iPhone, go ahead and note that a QR code is generated.
Then open the Google Authenticator application on your phone and press the + button to bring up the option to read a barcode.
Point the camera at the QR code generated on the PC screen and add the account.
In case of problems, you can click, under the QR code, the " you can't read it " link to generate an alphanumeric code that can be entered manually into Google Authenticator, using the code entry option.
At this point, every time you access your Google account, you are asked for the code generated by the application, readable on your smartphone.
You can activate the option to remember access so that you do not have to repeat the authentication on your PC or on trusted devices such as the mobile phone itself.
Remember that,
In the options of the Google Authenticator application you can open the settings and synchronize the time, to be sure that the generation of the codes is correct.
In the account security options of the sites that support two-step verification, it is almost always possible to obtain the QR code or the alphanumeric code so that you can use Google Authenticator.
NOTE: If you cannot use your phone, you can always use one of the backup codes that must be printed from the Google two-factor authentication configuration page.
For many accounts, however, the possibility remains to receive the variable verification code via SMS, if Google Authenticator cannot be used.
