What is 2-Step verification? Is it important? How does it play a role in today’s technological society? You may have heard of this term before or even used it for yourself. If you have ever received a text message to verify yourself after logging into a website such as: Social Media, Banking, Shopping etc, then you have setup 2-Step verification on your phone. Now why is this important? It is important because even if your password is complex and a website guarantees the authenticity of the security level, that password could get comprised in a website breach. The point of having another device to verify yourself is important because, if someone was trying to get in with your credentials, they would physically need access to your device to approve the login.
The chances of someone having your device is not impossible but very low. Most websites today will offer a 2-Step Verification or even a Multi-Factor Authentication which allows you to setup a secret answer to a question, a one-time code sent to your phone or email, send a push notification to your phone such as a Yes / No or even Allow / Deny. The good thing about the codes are that, they generate and will expire usually after a certain time for security purposes. You would not want a code to linger around in your email’s inbox for a week for the sake of someone gaining access to your email and using that code for another website.
Here are a few things you can do to protect your credentials and yourself when entering your credentials onto websites. Avoid using the same password across different websites and make them unique in a sense where only you know the meaning of that password. I know that it can be hard to remember multiple passwords especially if you don’t login as often but, changing your password often is a good practice as you can try to avoid your password from being caught in a data breach. Create a password that is at least 8-12 characters long with:
An uppercase letter
A lowercase letter
A symbol
A number
With that said, you now know what the meaning of 2-Step Verification is and can begin to use it if you have not done so already. Remember to always stay vigilant and this will help you overall.