Take an extra step to keep yourself safe
There are statistics that at the moment, theft of information is an even more profitable business than selling drugs. Besides the fact that hackers steal financial data to empty your bank cards or use them to pay for illegal services, they also sell your personal information to support the production of illegal documents, issue fraudulent loans and so on. We can no longer be completely confident in our online security. At the moment, two-factor authentication is the only way to protect yourself, but even it does not give 100% guarantees, like anything else in the world. However, in this article, we decided to list the reasons why you should use this protection method.
Hackers Do Not Sleep
The best technological minds are constantly coming up with new ways to protect private information. And hackers, in response to their inventions, will come up with ways to cope with new obstacles. It looks like an endless game.
So, be aware that at the moment absolutely any password can be cracked within six hours. To do this, hackers use very advanced and quick-thinking systems that try to enter a huge number of combinations per second. Besides, most passwords are created in English, which means hackers can easily do without translation services like The Word Point.
Plus, a lot of users like popular passwords that can even be cracked manually. And as a rule, they use the same passwords for all their accounts.
Therefore, two-factor authentication is the only way to increase the reliability of your protection, because, at the moment, no user on the network can feel safe, even choosing the most random combinations of letters, numbers, and special characters
We Produce More Data Than We Can Imagine
And in this regard, such a type of additional confirmation as secret questions lose its significance, reliability, and applicability. It is very easy to find out what secret question you have chosen, as well as find an answer to it. For example, if you chose to use the name of your pet as an answer to a secret question, then this data can be easily obtained from your social networks.
Also, it’s easy enough to find your password ideas based on your hobbies, occupation, place of work or places where you like to be. Because you still love to share it all on social networks.
However, even if hackers managed to crack your first password, then most likely, faced with the need for two-factor authentication, their efforts will end in defeat – because the system will either send an additional password to your smartphone, or you will need to provide a physical security indicator – a fingerprint or retina which is individual for each user.
Data from Our Bodies Is the Only Thing That Cannot Be Stolen or Faked
As we said before, something what you are may be this second factor in confirming your real intentions online. And fortunately, this is the only data that at the moment cannot be faked. In the worst-case scenario, hackers will have to personally abduct you to subsequently steal your data. However, if you are an average user and not a representative of the ruling world elite, they are unlikely to do so. Yet kidnapping is a much more serious crime than stealing information.
Two Factors Are Simpler but More Reliable
Two-Factor authentication is very simple and convenient without loss of reliability. It is very simple to put your finger or bring the smartphone to your face. As for the automatic generation of passwords for entering applications, everything is also very simple here – you can choose confirmation methods, for example, using a call or a code in SMS. In the latter case, the code you receive is one-time, consists of five to seven digits that are easy to remember to enter and also easy to forget immediately.
This Makes It Possible to Prevent Account Hacking
When you use two-factor authentication in applications and once again confirm your intentions, for example, using a one-time code that comes to your mobile, you automatically get the opportunity to prevent an attack and have time to respond.
Let’s simulate a situation.For example, you receive an SMS with the text that it is necessary to enter five digits to confirm the entrance to your bank account. But you know for sure that you just did not log in to the application, which means that someone else is doing it. However, you still can respond instantly – you can call the bank right away, say that you suspect that your account may be hacked, and freeze access to your finances before the attackers enter the system.
You No Longer Need to Invent the Most Secure Passwords
This applies only to the second factor. In the case of the first password, you should also always be on the alert and follow generally accepted rules that will unambiguously complicate the work of hackers. For example, never use the same passwords for all your accounts, do not use personal names, dates of birth, addresses, names of countries and cities – in simple words, any combinations that someone else can hypothetically come up with except you. However, in the case of the second password for additional confirmation, you no longer need to bother yourself so much. If the application that you use generates an additional password automatically (for example, most online banking applications work this way), then all you have to do is enter a randomly generated password that will never be used anywhere else, except for you here and now. In the case when you need to confirm your intentions with something what you are, for example, a fingerprint or face id as in the latest iPhone models, it’s still easier – this unique data, as we already said, cannot be faked or stolen.
Two-Factor Authentication Is up to 80% Percent Extra Protection
If all the preceding reasons seemed to you insufficiently reliable, then here is the data from a scientific study – 80% of data breaches can be prevented by using two-factor authentication. As you can see, even in this case, 20% of the risk remains, therefore, each user must independently ensure their safety in the network and not hope for luck
Lucy Hatcher is a professional writer who is currently working in the company The Word Point. (https://thewordpoint.com/) Lucy is always full of new ideas as she loves to write. She always seeks to find new opportunities for career and professional growth. Therefore, it is not difficult for her to write an interesting article on any topic. Lucy Hatcher is a professional writer who is currently working in the company The Word Point. Lucy is always full of new ideas as she loves to write. She always seeks to find new opportunities for career and professional growth. Therefore, it is not difficult for her to write an interesting article on any topic.