Why You Should Always Use 2FA (Two Factor Authentication)
One of the most important parts of owning cryptocurrency is securing it safely. We can often have crypto spread throughout multiple wallets, exchanges, or custodial services, and have to keep track of multiple passwords, usernames, and other keys in order to access, deposit, and withdraw our crypto.
When signing in to these services, we are often given an option of some type of security check, sometimes a SMS confirmation or a 2FA confirmation.
Today we're going to outline why you should switch any of your SMS confirmations to 2FA, as 2FA is much more secure.
The Problem with SMS Confirmations When using SMS confirmations to keep your accounts secure, you're actually operating with a level of risk.
Hackers have repeatedly been able to hack into phones using SMS messages, by either sending a spyware-filled SMS message to your phone, or even contacting the phone company, impersonating others with your private info, and convincing the phone company to do a SIM swap to their phone.
If they are successful with the SIM swap, that means they'll now control your phone number on their SIM on their phone. If you have SMS authentication set up at any bank or crypto exchange (or any account for that matter), they can then easily gain access to your login info and passwords and then make any withdrawals they'd like by receiving the SMS log in codes on their phone.
In 2018, a man named Robert Ross lost access to his life savings after hackers called his phone company and impersonated his identity, successfully swapping his phone number to a new SIM that they owned. They soon depleted his accounts of all his funds, resulting in a loss of his life savings, approximately $1 million.
*The Solution to SIM Hacks - 2FA
If we set our accounts up with Two Factor Authentication, instead of receiving a text message to a specific phone number to log-in, we would instead have to check our Authenticator app, which cannot be transferred to another phone in the same way a SIM swap would transfer a phone number.
In the case above, if the hackers swapped the SIM but needed Two Factor Authentication to get into the accounts, they wouldn't be able to go any further without having access to Mr. Ross' physical phone, where the Authenticator app would reside.
Because of this you should check every one of your financial and personal accounts to see if they provide Two Factor Authentication, and if so, you should definitely enable it ASAP!
To use 2FA, you can download an app such as Google Authenticator, and then scan a barcode from the service you're using to load the account info into your app.
When logging in to your service, you'll switch over to the 2FA app and then copy the current code and paste it into your service to log in.
These codes refresh every 30 seconds, which creates the scenario where you have to physically be within reach of your device to be able to login successfully.
Using 2FA is a huge step in improving your overall security, and is highly recommended across all of your accounts.
By implementing 2FA, you're taking another step forward to properly securing your assets and your financial future.
Thanks for reading, and I hope this post helps you on your crypto journey!
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
