android

A lot of us who read technology news have must heard about the Adobe security breach lately. This announcement came from Adobe itself on a blog post they released on OCTOBER 3, they said that customer names, encrypted credit / debit card numbers, and expiration dates. Source code for “numerous Adobe products” was stolen. And due to this indecent a lot of big internet companies started working hard to make their services more secure by comparing their users email database with the one that was leaked from Adobe, and notifying people who have and Adobe account to change their password and secure their account. These steps came from companies like: Facebook, Evernote, DreamHost and others, but what’s funny about it is that Adobe it self didn’t notify people at all, I do have an account on Adobe, and according to Evernote and DreamHost my email address was among the emails and password that was leaked from Adobe but I didn’t get any email from Adobe telling me about this security breach. And recently Buffer A service that manages your social media networks Was also hacked and users was surprised when their accounts started sharing spam links across social media networks.

Yesterday buffer took a great step toward protecting their users by enabling Two Factor Authentication, a secure way to protect your account with something you know (Your Password) and something you have (Your Phone).

With 2 Step verification enabled, after you enter your user name and password you will be asked to enter a code that was delivered to your phone (By SMS or by using an app like Google Authenticator). Having 2 Step Verification is really good to protect your account from hackers, it’s not %100 secure, bcuz in this article by Adam Goodman from Due Security, he explains how hackers can bypass 2 Step Verification by capturing a user’s application-specific password (ASP), if you wanna know more about it make sure to read his article.

All of this made me think to write this article to collect in one place all the internet services that offers two factor authentication to make sure my readers secure their accounts if they use these services. So let’s start:

First you need one of these apps:

1. Google Authenticator iOS
2. Google Authenticator Android
3. Authy
4. LaunchKey

Google:

If you have a Google account then you must enable two factor authentication, it’s really important to protect all your Google Data from emails, contacts to documents saved on your Google Drive. By enabling this feature you will be asked to enter a random code generated only for you by many methods:

How to access your account after enabling two factor authentication:

• SMS
• A Phone Call
• Google Authenticator
• Registering your Computer
• Backup phone number
• and Back up codes.

Dropbox:

With Dropbox I think it’s also obvious that you must enable it, to protect all your document and files, in Dropbox you will be able to chose a primary and a backup way to access your account after entering the password.

How to access your device after enabling two factor authentication:

• Google Authenticator
• SMS

Apple:

With apple two factor authentication enabled you will protect your credit card information that you use to purchase movies, music, books, and apps. But with apple, you will be forced to change your password if it didn’t match their requirements 8 characters with at least 1 number and 1 capital letter After that you have to add one of your apple products like an iPhone and iPod touch or an iPad as a trusted device so you can receive your code on it.

How to access your device after enabling two factor authentication:

• iOS device
• Backup code

Buffer:

Protecting your Buffer account you will protect unwanted people from accessing your social media network and preventing them from sharing spam links on your facebook twitter or google plus account. Buffer introduced 2 Step Verification option yesterday to protect it’s user from what happened couple of weeks ago when hackers were able to send spam links all over twitter and facebook.

How to access your device after enabling two factor authentication:

• Google Authenticator
• Backup codes

DreamHost:

This is an important one if you are managing your domains and hosting your websites on DreamHost, it’s uses the same methods to protect your buffer account.

How to access your device after enabling two factor authentication:

• Google Authenticator
• Backup codes

Twitter:

Twitter did the same thing Buffer did by enabling this feature to users after multiple hacks that happened to major accounts like The Gurdian, AFP, and the Associated Press. Twitter uses it’s iOS app and android app to make users give permission to access their own account and also a backup code in case they’ve lost access to that device.

How to access your device after enabling two factor authentication:

• iOS or android device with Twitter official app installed
• Backup codes

WordPress:

Protecting your WordPress account mean that you are protecting your sites, articles, and posts that you worked hard on for hours each day, so I think it’s also a must feature to enable. It’s also a simple app and a backup code to access your account.

How to access your device after enabling two factor authentication:

• Google Authenticator
• Backup codes