What is two-factor authentication?

Are you wondering "how do I know if I've been hacked?" In this article, we'll give you all the keys to recognizing a hack and what to do if it happens.

You've probably heard or seen the term "two-factor authentication" (2FA) while browsing the web. Two-factor authentication is becoming increasingly common on websites that require a login and therefore a password.

While two-factor authentication was once only necessary for banking transactions and other highly secure activities, today it's becoming increasingly important to protect your personal data online. That's where 2FA comes in.

Why is two-factor authentication necessary?

Cybersecurity threats are becoming more complex and insidious every day. While this is reason enough to better protect yourself online, human factors also come into play. These variable factors are often the source of cyberattacks and must therefore be taken into account:

1. The human brain is not infallible

And yes, humans don't have perfect, flawless memories. Quite the opposite: it's actually very common to forget your password.

2. You probably have many different accounts

In 2021, we practically live on the web. Internet users have multiple accounts on social networks, media outlets, online stores, service providers, and more. And since the human brain is fallible, it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of all the different accounts.

3. Passwords are easy to hack

When you consider that in 2019, 65% of Internet users reuse the same password at least once , if not more, you quickly understand the importance of password hacking. Once the hacker has found it, there is a good chance that they can access many different accounts with the same password.

As you can see, traditional passwords are no longer enough to guarantee online security, which is why it is essential to move towards a more secure solution such as two-factor authentication.

How does two-factor authentication work?

The goal of two-factor authentication is to verify a user's identity in order to mitigate attacks. By verifying a user's identity with a second factor, there is less chance that the user is a hacker.

Two-factor authentication, as the name suggests, uses two different factors to identify the user. These factors can be:

• Something I know: like a password or PIN.
• Something I am: like a fingerprint or a face.
• Something I have: a phone, a bank card.

To better understand, here is an example of how this works in real life: the website will ask you to authenticate with a username and password (1st factor), then it will ask you for a code sent to your phone (2nd factor). This makes authentication impossible without the phone. This way, your identity is verified twice!

In summary

Two-factor authentication is becoming almost necessary to ensure good online security. And you're in luck, these days many sites offer 2FA by default! So if you don't already, go set it up now on your accounts such as Google, Outlook, bank accounts, etc., not forgetting password managers if you have any!

About Nexxo

Nexxo Computer Solutions specializes in providing IT and technology services to Quebec businesses. Its mission is to offer Quebec companies IT services tailored to their needs. Acting as an external IT department, it handles all of a company's IT tasks, allowing it to focus on its business activities. It achieves this by collaborating closely with its clients and putting their interests at the center of its concerns.