Securing your email accounts or for that matter most personal social media accounts takes just a couple of minutes and yet many of us don't do it! It's strange because everyday we hear stories of accounts being compromised, yet our response is inaction.
Many times on Steemit.Chat people reach out asking for help with account recovery. In some cases they have also lost access to their email accounts. You could greatly reduce your chances of an email hack by securing your accounts with a combination of hard-to-crack password and 2-Factor authentication.
Enabling 2-Factor authentication takes only a couple of minutes and you are protected! Don't make it easier for thief to hack into your account. Phishing is one of the most common ways that most people give away their financial details as well as account access without realising they are.
Importance of securing your accounts cannot be stated enough number of times. People are generally careless about account security. On Steemit we see all kinds of issues from people sharing their master keys on their memo accidentally to forgetting the email they used to register their Steemit account.
Setting up 2-factor authentication is straight forward and easy. Apps such as Authy makes it easier than ever before to improve your account security and thwart any attempt by hackers out there to brute force their way into your sensitive data. Just got into your account settings and sign-in security and enable 2-factor authentication. If you use a Yubikey then you can use that instead of Authy or even higher level of security.
2-factor is nothing but a second layer of security where even if your password is compromised, the hacker still needs access to your phone or a secure device to retrieve your 2-factor codes. With an app like Authy you can easily sync across multiple devices and never worry about losing access to your data.
Earlier today, I had one of my friend's notify me that there was an unauthorised attempt to log-in to his Instagram account from a location in France-or so he was notified as he tried logging-in. It was an account he hadn't used in a while and I found out that he hadn't setup 2-factor on it and didn't know what it was.
Personally, all my accounts are secured with 2-factor authentication at the very least. It's important you do this when you are on social media managing multiple accounts. If you haven't enabled Authy or similar 2-factor authentication what are you waiting for?
If you like my work kindly resteem it to your friends. You may also continue reading my recent posts which might interest you:
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I had 8 ETH stolen from me - and until today I have no idea what happened. One guess is that somebody has hacked my gmail account - and I am not using 2FA there until today. I think I should probably quickly change...
Use 2 factor authentication dude
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@manojm/bitcoin-cash-the-coin-which-will-rise-to-usd10000-january-2018
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I use Google Authenticator on all accounts that offer it. Using a cellphone # is not a good idea because it is easy for impersonators to call your carrier and have it changed without your knowledge. Google Authenticator is great because it is attached to your device and your device only. Without the physical phone, there is no way to gain access.
I was not aware that you can use the Authenticator without a phone number. This is very insightful. Thanks.
I don't but sounds convincing. Thanks for always guiding people with valuable guidance.
Am hearing this for the first time, surprising hearing that my email account can be hack.
I keep leaning everyday on steemit.
Keep on sharing great information like this.
Of course, 2 Factor Authentication is a strong way to protect our sensitive data over the internet. These days hacking is quite common and we should use some secure source to protect our data.This post is very useful.Althought we can not compromise on our sensitive data.
i use Google Authenticator and it offers many sites on his plattform! i can really recommend it! its easy to use and helps u to secure your accounts.
We don´t do it because of laziness, but we should!!
I use it on all my accounts
This is the best security kit so far
good to share
great info bro
two-step verification is very important definitely do it
Excellent post about specially security. I like your job. Follow and upvoted you. Thanks
I use 2fa but I keep changing my password every 5~7 days
N my account is opened only using tor . So still should I be worried ?
very informative post sir, I was not using 2 Authentication on mine. but now I have an idea, and knowing also how important it is to secure everything important on my mail and ech.
Make to have backups .. in case you lose 2fa phone
yes sir.. thank you.
Great insight and reasoning why we should all use 2-factor authentication. While this now is widely spread and most of the sites offer this addition to improve security, most of us we prefer to keep things simple, even if not always thinking for security. Also, I know that the 2-factor authentication using SMS by phone can be hacked and maybe also for that purpose . Of course it cannot be easily hacked (you need some kind of device to connect to the operator network and intercept the calls), but just proves some boundary cases.
Nevertheless, we should all adopt the 2-factor authentication in order to minimize the hack of our accounts! Great pointing this up in the post.
I use two factor authentication and Google Authentication on many sites. I use them on crypto exchanges because we have to secure our accounts from thieves.
Thanks for the post @firepower
Your posts are good. very beneficial for those who see your blog. sorry I can not vote you. my powor steam is crumbling. this is the love of recovery phase. if there is a solution of lamu please in love solution.
definitely resteem this post sir., thank for this very informative post, many of us a bit careless or lack of knowledge regarding account security. This would be a great help.
excellent post dear friend @firepower, you are very right in what you say, what happens with human beings that we are very confident, we always think that only happens to the other and that it will never happen to you.
I take the opportunity to wish you a happy 2018, that comes to you full of happiness and prosperity, for you and all yours
2FA might seem a little boring to go through before accessing an account but what is worth doing is worth doing well.
I've only recently come across 2fa and love the idea. My emails are hosted along with my website under my own domain, do you know if you can enable 2fa on a setup like this?
I did not know what it is before but now that I do, shall try it out.
I started using 2FA on my GMail after I lost my phone in Lisbon at STEEMFest... I have no idea why I never put it on before, I feel much safer
Its always best to have a backup email and add the mobile number in email account as added security, it will ask to either verify the email address or phone on new IP's if login is detected from unknown IP address.
This is really very useful
great post, amazing :) informative
yes I am using ....but lots of thing i did not know and you explain them well.......i admire your work. it really helpfull for all of us. good work
U are very right i talking about 2FA (two factor authentication) as it is being for evry popular site. Its good info and thanks for sharing
i use 2FA from a phone i use just for This case, you newer know Who might pickpocket your phone outside... so treat it like what it is, a SAFE :)
Yes really its necessary. Nowadays mobile hacked can result in great loss. Seen an incident yesterday only of money laundering.security is the most important thing that you should not risk upon.
You bet your life I use 2FA. Any amount of coin I have I would be always using 2FA.
What is your opinion regarding a physical device such as a Yubikey, versus Google Authenticator? Thanks for the reminder on this important topic.
Thanks for your post. Do you know what happens if I loose my phone and therefore the access to my google authenticator? I'm kind of afraid because it might get stolen, I loose it or it breaks.
Yes, i am using it... Very informative post.
Better to activate it rather than to regret!
2fa for almost all accounts, what happens when we loee our phones?
... i use Google Authenticator
important to backup your 2FA passwords in case they are deleted from your phone and need to log back into your account
Very helpful article! I couldn't agree more! This is a very important reminder for everyone to use two factor authentication as it provides double security for your accounts. Thanks for sharing it!
Sure but did you check that taking over your phone number was hard? I like the model but people forget that for phone number, you are relying on the sim card, and whoever has it, and not on your actual phone.