This post is as much Public Service Announcement as anything else. I didn’t realize that two-factor authentication had finally taken off. It’s practically vital for your email account (you’re asking for trouble without it), but in the past year or so, a bunch of other services have begun offering it.
Today I went on a little security binge, and found that I could turn on two-factor authentication at:
- Google/Gmail
- Yahoo
- Dropbox
- Charles Schwab (they send you a fob for free)
- Paypal
- Amazon Web Services
One note about Charles Schwab is that getting their fob is great, but it’s hardly all you should do to secure your account. You should also set up what they call a “verbal password” that you have to provide whenever you call in. Without it, it’s pretty easy to get into an account via their surprisingly weak phone security.
Anyway, this is a pretty good list so far. The companies are using a handful of different techniques for doing this, but they all seem pretty solid in the end. Google’s, naturally, seems to be one of the most robust, but I’m impressed there’s so much offered.
Go set these up!
I love getting feedback and comments. Make my day by making a comment.