Staying Safe Online - Two Factor Authentication

Two-Factor Authentication (or Multifactor Authentication) has been mentioned in some previous blog postings.  What is it, you ask?  It’s an added layer of security in the login process, that’s implemented by a website owner (i.e. your bank for online account access or your favorite online retailer).  Why use it, it just makes logging in that much more difficult!  Having an extra layer of security also makes it much more difficult for the criminal element, preventing unauthorized access to your accounts. Data breaches on companies that have an online presence are becoming a common occurrence; there are more breaches that occur than the news media care to cover.  If you have an account with a company that has experienced a data breach, there's a high probability that your userID and password could eventually become exposed on the internet as a result of that data breach.  This is especially dangerous if you happen to reuse passwords for multiple accounts.

Here is an excellent article by a Time Magazine writer on staying safe online by using two-factor authentication.  http://time.com/5510195/two-factor-authentication In this article, another website is mentioned  https://twofactorauth.org/ that gives you the ability to check to see if your bank or retail website provides the option for two-factor authentication.  If you find that they don’t provide that service, they can and should be shamed on social media, encouraging them to provide that extra layer of security for their customer's.  An alternative would be to send a quick email note to the company that you deal with online, requesting that they add that service to their website.  Chances are, most companies will be scrambling to have their website developers implement this type of added security.  It protects their customer's and could also prevent them from potential liability.

Of the five major banks in Canada, notice that TD Canada Trust is the only Canadian bank that currently offers two-factor authentication for their online customers. The other banks have some website development to do!