As evidenced by the leaking of private photos of multiple celebrities, we all need to be more careful than ever about protecting our data on the internet. You might think this kind of thing only happens to celebrities and the rest of us don’t have to worry, but think about all the data in your email account. Social networks are our public face, emails hold our financial data, etc.
A strong password is a good first step, but setting up two-factor authentication adds another layer of protection between other people and your data. If you do this, only people who know your password can access your account, and you’ll also have access to a second level of authentication, which can take the form of a text message, email, or even a pairing app on your smartphone.
(See also: How to prevent photos from your iCloud account from being stolen)
Some services offer all three authentication modes – others rely on one of these methods. Regardless, once the authenticator is set up, attempting to log into your account will result in a code being sent via the chosen method, without which the account will be inaccessible.
Your Google Account is probably the first account you want to protect. Your email account is not only a repository for all kinds of important information, but since our email ID is the default way of logging into web services today, your Gmail account also acts as a gateway to all other accounts. To set up two-factor authentication, you need to perform the following steps:
1. Go to Google Account Security and look for 2-Step Verification under Passwords.
2. Click Settings. On the next page, click Start setup.
3. Log in on the next page. Enter your phone number in the box.
4. Choose how you want to receive the code > click Send Code.
5. A six-digit code will be sent to your phone via text message or phone call. Enter the code from the website and click Verify > Next > Confirm.
Next, Google will ask you to reconnect all your apps and devices. If you have configured apps to access your Google Account on any device, you must create a separate app password for each app and log in again. To do this, click Configure when Google prompts. Now select the application (if it is not mentioned, click “Other”) and device from the drop-down menu and click “Generate”. Each code password you generate only works for one application.
As of now, Facebook’s two-step verification is not available in all regions. If this feature is available in your area, follow the steps below to set it up.
1. Open Facebook account security settings. If you see a header called “Login Approval” under “Login Notifications,” that means it’s available in your region. If not, then you’ll have to wait until Facebook launches this feature.
2. Click the Edit button next to Login Approval. Check “Require a security code to access my account from other browsers.” Click Save changes. Click “Start” in the pop-up window.
3. You will now see a pop-up titled “Alternate Security Code Delivery”. Click Continue, re-enter your password and click Submit. Finally, you can enter your phone number and click Continue. You will now receive a code via text message. Enter this code on the website and click “Confirm”.
4. Facebook will now tell you that you can disable login approvals for a week. If you don’t do this, you’ll need a security code sent via SMS each time you log in from a new browser. Facebook also gives you some login approval codes that you can use when you don’t have a phone. You can use these devices while traveling and when your phone is out of range.
apple
Apple’s two-step verification process is a bit lengthy, taking at least three days to complete. That’s it.
1. Open your Apple ID page and log in.
2. Click Password & Security on the left.
3. You must answer the two security questions you set when you created your account.
4. On the right, you will see 2-Step Verification at the top. Click Start.
5. After enabling two-step verification, you will need any two of the following to manage your Apple ID: your password, a trusted device (which can receive codes using Find My iPhone), and your recovery key. You must enter this information to sign in every time you sign in to iTunes or make an iTunes purchase using a new device. Apple will show you this warning and say it won’t be able to reset your password if you need to. If you’re happy with this, go ahead and click Continue to display the two screens, then click Start.
6. As an additional security precaution when setting up two-step verification on your Apple ID, the company requires that you wait three days before proceeding with setup. Also, make sure Find My iPhone/iPad is enabled on your device. You can do this by going to Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone > Turn On.
7. Log in to your Apple ID again after three days and open the security settings page to manage devices registered to your account. Here you’ll be able to mark devices as trusted, so you can log in using just their passwords.
There are two ways to set up two-factor authentication for Twitter, but one of them may not work for most people. If you want to use SMS for authentication, your phone needs to be registered with Twitter. Unfortunately, India no longer belongs to this country. country list Twitter has SMS support. If your phone is already registered, all you need to do is:
1. Go to Twitter account settings and select “Send a login request to my phone.”
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click “Save changes” to enable this feature.
If you can’t add your phone number, you can still use the Twitter app on your smartphone as an authenticator. Here’s what you need to do:
1. Launch the Twitter application and enter the settings page.
2. Click Your Account > Scroll down and click Security.
3. Turn on login verification. You will see a backup code that allows you to bypass this – keep the code somewhere private.
4. After doing this, trying to log in to Twitter from any other device will send a request to this application. To complete the login, you need to return to this page in the application > click on the login request > click on the check mark to allow login.
prospect
Microsoft makes it very easy to set up two-factor authentication. Here’s how.
1. Sign in to your Microsoft account and click Security & Passwords on the left.
2. When you sign up, Outlook will ask you to provide an alternate email address or phone number. Outlook will ask you to enter an alternate email address or phone number before you can modify your account information. Do this and click Next. You will receive a code to your email address or phone. Enter the code and click Next.
4. Now click Set up 2-Step Verification > Next. You can now choose whether you want to use your email address, phone, or app to receive the second code. We recommend that you choose a mobile phone as you will most likely have it with you at all times. Enter your phone number to complete the process. You will receive a four-digit code on your phone. Enter it and click “OK” to enable two-step verification for your account.
Yahoo
Try the following steps to set up an additional layer of security for your Yahoo account.
1. Visit this Yahoo page to set up two-factor authentication. Click Start.
2. If you haven’t set up a phone number on Yahoo yet, click Add New Phone > Enter your phone number > Click Send Code.
3. Enter the code in the box > click OK.
4. This will set up a second login verification on your phone. You can choose to only use your phone for verification, or allow security questions you filled out when you created your account.
This should help you set up two-step verification on your account. For more tutorials, visit our How-To section.