GOOGLE AUTHENTICATOR BACKUP CODES INSTALL
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GOOGLE AUTHENTICATOR BACKUP CODES VERIFICATION
GOOGLE AUTHENTICATOR BACKUP CODES SOFTWARE
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If your phone has been lost or stolen, erase the contents of the device to keep your personal information away from prying eyes. Here are the two steps to take if you lose a phone with Google Authenticator on it: 1.

GOOGLE AUTHENTICATOR BACKUP CODES INSTALL

If you lose your phone with Google Authenticator on it, you should erase your phone remotely and use an alternative method to sign into your accounts with 2FA set up until you can install Google Authenticator on a new phone.Įrasing your phone is an important step to secure your digital identity in case your phone falls into the wrong hands. What should I do if I lose a phone with Google Authenticator installed? The Google Authenticator app can be used with almost any account that offers 2FA, including Gmail, Facebook, and many others.

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When you use an authenticator app, a code is generated immediately so you can verify your account in seconds.

GOOGLE AUTHENTICATOR BACKUP CODES VERIFICATION

Both Duo Mobile and Authy suggest that not encrypting the account names or sites can help with account recovery, but that claim rings hollow to us: Knowing which accounts have two-factor authentication enabled doesn’t ease the process of getting back into an account.Google Authenticator works as a form of two-factor verification (2FA), which is a vital measure for protecting your online accounts and keeping them secure even if your password is stolen. Better yet, we’d prefer the company didn’t collect this data at all. Authy recently updated its privacy notice to include more information about what the company can access and added in an email to us that, “Access to this information is limited to employees who either support Authy or have a valid need-to-know.” We appreciate the addition to the policy but think this information should be in the app, as well. Unlike Duo Mobile, which stores the backup on either iCloud or Google Drive, Authy stores the backup on its own servers, which theoretically gives the company access to those details. Security researchers at Mysk also found this same info was sent in analytics, which may be linked to your email address and phone number. Similarly to Duo Mobile, Authy’s backups don’t encrypt some information that you might expect it to, sometimes including the name of the website and a username (you can edit these, but we suspect few people bother to do so). But for most people, the potential security risk of backing up codes online is outweighed by the fear of being locked out of accounts for good, so for the apps that do offer backups, we looked for clear explanations of how the backups worked, where they’re stored, and how they’re encrypted. So we looked for authenticators that left this feature opt-in. Optional backups: The security researchers we spoke with said they don’t recommend backing up or syncing a two-factor authentication account because then your tokens are on the company’s servers, which could be compromised.Going with a reliable company helps guarantee continued support for new mobile operating systems and tech support if something goes wrong. Reliability: Pretty much anyone with an app developer license can make an authentication app, so when it came to security, we looked for apps that are open source or run by well-known companies like Google, Twilio, Cisco, or Microsoft.We also appreciate a search bar so you can find a specific app or website. Usability: An authenticator should make it easy to add new accounts, find existing accounts, and delete unneeded accounts.Availability on Windows and Mac is useful but isn’t a requirement.

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Platform compatibility: A good two-factor authentication app should work on both Android and iOS.

You should send reports of phishing attempts to the FTC, but since most people don’t, it’s hard to know how often such phishing happens. The FBI does warn people about the risks of SIM swapping and phishing tools, but two-factor authentication is still effective in protecting accounts. Not much data is available about the specifics of phishing attempts like this, but the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 25,344 reports of phishing in 2017 (PDF).

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Unlike a stolen password, two-factor authentication software tokens need to be grabbed in real time to be useful.

Someone could email you a link to a fake Gmail login page saying your account needs an update, where you then log in with your username, password, and two-factor authentication token. It is still susceptible to advanced phishing attempts. But two-factor authentication isn’t perfect-no security tool is. Two-factor authentication can protect against more-basic phishing attempts, such as when a fake login page tries to steal your password.

Google authenticator backup codes