<\/a><\/p>\nTwo-factor authentication requires you to enter two login tokens before you can access an online account. The first token is your standard password (something you know), while the second is a login code randomly generated by a smartphone app or sent via SMS or email (something you have).
\nTwo-factor authentication is becoming a common security feature for many online services you already use including Dropbox, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. It may be a little inconvenient to deal with two-factor authentication, but anyone who\u2019s lost control of their Facebook or email account can tell you the extra security gain is worth the minor hassle.
\nHere\u2019s a quick look at how two-factor authentication currently works for the major online services you use every day.
\nGoogle<\/p>\n
The best account to start with if you\u2019re new to two-factor authentication is Google, because you can use the Google Authenticator smartphone app to generate random access codes for many other services. Twitter reportedly is getting ready to roll out two-factor authentication in the coming weeks\u2014a development that comes not a moment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","category-social-media"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-um","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9391,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2018\/08\/12\/this-week-in-tech-679-hotbox-the-waymo\/","url_meta":{"origin":1882,"position":0},"title":"This Week in Tech 679: Hotbox the Waymo","author":"NCCT","date":"August 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/r0sh0kx0ksQ This Week in Tech Galaxy Note 9, vote hacking, Android Q quandary, robot dogs, and more. --Samsung Announces the Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Watch, and Galaxy Home musical cauldron. --What is AI? 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<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTo set it up, visit Google\u2019s two-step verification landing page and click the Get Started button on the top right-hand side of the window. Google will then guide you through the process for enabling two-factor authentication, which includes downloading and installing Google Authenticator for smartphone users.
\nThe Google Authenticator app is available for Android, iOS, and BlackBerry 4.5-6.0 devices. If you don\u2019t have a smartphone you can still use Google\u2019s two-factor authentication by receiving access codes via SMS.
\nAfter Google\u2019s two-factor authentication is enabled, you will have to reauthorize any other accounts and devices that access your Google account. Using Google Authenticator is pretty straightforward: You sign in to your Google account with your regular password and then you enter a randomly generated verification code created by Google Authenticator.
\nAt sign-in, regular Google accounts can click a check box so that trusted PCs, such as your laptop at home, won\u2019t require two-factor authentication every time you login. Google Apps users can authorize trusted devices for only 30 days at a time.
\nThe problem with Google\u2019s two-factor authentication is that some programs\u2014smartphone email clients that access Gmail, for example\u2014don\u2019t work with it.
\nFor these apps, you will have to use a randomly generated application-specific password instead of your regular password. These passwords bypass the need for two-factor authentication and can be revoked by you at any time. Application-specific passwords only have to be entered once per service and can be created by signing in to your Google account and clicking here.
\nFull Story: Online security: your two-factor authorization checklist | PCWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"