The Benefits You Get From 2-Factor Authentication

The internet can both be a safe and dangerous place to be especially if you do not have any idea that the website you are going has a lot of bugs in it that will affect your computer or that your email account has been hacked and you do not know what to do. Most of the time, hacked email accounts are left as it is and nothing is changed inside your account. What these hackers want is information from you that they can use that can be an advantage to a ‘project’ they are doing.

That is why there are viruses that pose as authentic websites belonging to the government, blackmailing the users to deposit money or else it will be their computer’s history. This is also why when you try to access your email accounts, they ask for a verification code from you in order to make sure that the one accessing your email is you and no one else. This method is called authentication.

Image Credit: duosecurity.com

The 2-Factor Authentication
You just heard of the authentication, now you are hearing the 2-factor authentication. You will be hearing this term every now and then for several years since this is the new security feature that is getting popular on the internet. Since authentication is a combination of authorization and accounting – the former involved with what the user is allowed in doing while the latter is more on who did this and that kind of system. The 2-factor authentication basically means utilizing 2 independent sources of evidence in order to demonstrate your identity. It is like a double authentication code.

The focus of this system is to lure the attacker. In this system, it is important that into stealing 2 different pieces of information that have different attack vectors and weaknesses so that they can gain access. The attack scenario for this system, however, gets more complex thus it makes it difficult for the attacker to carry out its mission in accessing your account.

SEE ALSO: Software Development: Are You Protecting Your Code?

Protecting Your Accounts
the 2 factors are different from each other and are independent otherwise the authentication process will just be rendered useless. Just because you have 2 passwords does not mean it is already a 2-factor authentication. The attacker will only know the second password once the first password has been breached. In general sense the 2-factor authentication will require the user in demonstrating their true identity through 2 of these 3 ways:

• Something that you know – such as your password or personal identification number.