One of the things that we do to try to protect our accounts
is using something called "Two Factor Authenticaton" or 2FA, or "two step login".
and if you're not familiar with what that is I'll link to it in the link above here.
to our security playlist where we get into some details on that
one of the questions alot of people don't ask, or they don't think to ask, is the difference between
getting a text message versus using an authentication app
So in this video I'm going to explain the difference between the two and why you would choose
one over the other. So stick around...
So first of all, if you're not using any kind of two factor authentication for any of your
for any of your sites, you'll want to start doing that immediately.
And go through all the different sites and see if they offer any kind of two factor authentication.
If you're already using two factor authentication and getting it by text message or SMS,
You might want to login there and see if they now offer the option to use an app.
There's many apps and you can use your app of choice
and it will work just the same.
So first it helps to understand what 2FA or Two Factor Authentication is
and it's really just you will get a text message or a code somehow
when trying to log into one of your accounts. So if a hacker gained access to your password,
Then they would also need to get that code to continue logging in.
So if you receive it as a text message, you could simply delete that text message
and forget about it, and they wouldn't get it. But the problem is, they could get it.
What many people still may not know, is that a hacker could actually clone
the chip on your phone. I'm not gonna get into how they do that here
If they had that, any text messages that you receive, they will be able to
intercept that, and receive a copy of them.
So if they gain access to your password, and they require a text message code
for the two factor authentication, then they will also receive that text message.
You would get it, delete it, assume you're fine, but they received it, they logged in,
and they now have access to your account.
and that's one of the problems with the two factor authentication using SMS.
So all of a sudden then, your 2FA is useless.
This is another reason why people are using apps to communicate with, instead of text messages
because they're securing the communication between the two devices
So if anyone cloned your phone they wouldn't be able to receive it by text.
It's going a little bit off topic, but it does show that this is one of the things that we are concerned about.
So using an authenticator app on your phone versus SMS to receive the codes is more secure
Generally because if someone cloned your phone to receive the text,
they're not gonna get that text, because it's coming through on an app.
The way the apps works, is you have to authorize the app, in your account
so you would go into each one of your accounts, and you would have that phone
authorized as a trusted device
So the app on your device, would then give you the code
So like Facebook has their own authenticator generator app
Gmail pops up it's own thing, if you have Gmail on your phone and you got to login to
Gmail on your computer, it will pop up and say Yes or No.
So there's different ones, and then there's other apps
I'll link to one here I"m using because I'm recording using my phone.
But you would have the other websites link through theirs, so that you could then
generate a code and it comes to your phone, which is an authorized app.
So, it would be alot more secure, because in that case, the hacker would
require having physical access to your phone
Now one disclaimer here is that, you should constantly be looking out for
what's new in the IT world, as far as security goes.
because there's always more that you can do and it's really just how much money
and effort are you going to put into it
because it won't be long before, at some point, someone's going to be able
to easily hack the code generator for the two factor authentication.
the same way as they are able to clone your phone and get all your
SMS messages.
So, looking at the various news sites, under technology, or subscribing to your favorite
YouTube channel like this one here
I know, shamless plug!
But, we don't do videos strictly on security I do all kinds of different IT help videos
here on this channel
But, Security, I have done a bit, and I mentioned about the playlist
here on security. So you could look at the security playlist here
and see as I add more videos about security on here.
So as a matter of fact, this video prompted me to do a
quick search here before I completed the video, so that I could
lookup with Two Factor Authentication using apps
and ofcourse, you'll see here, I'll link in the description below as well
there's an article that shows that somebody has already figured out
some Malware, that if it gets downloaded onto your phone, they can trick you into launching
that malware, and they would then gain access to your Google Authenicator app
on your Android device.. So if you're using an Android phone with the Google Authenticator App
and you get this particular malware infection, then you could be at risk
So, you gotta be careful about links you're clicking on.
websites you're going to, and all that stuff on your phone.
That's why I personally don't do alot on my phone. Just the bear minimum.
I got my trusted apps, I use most often on my phone and I stick with those,
like email and whatever I need for business.
I don't play around personal clicking all kind of links
and going to various websites, doing Google searches
If I'm not sure if something is trusted or not, I'm not going to do it on my phone.
I'm gonna do it on the computer, where I can actually see the link
behind the link and see where it's going to and check it
to verify if it's safe to click on before I actually click on it.
I kinda went off a little bit on a rampage on that one, but
it's really just being safe on your phone
because this article is just talking about the Google authenticator app with
Android devices. And what you need to know with security is that
no one knows that there's an issue until someone gets the issue
then it somehow hits the news, and then gets out there
and by that point, it's too late. it's already hit millions of people
and you could have been one of them.
So I know it seems pointless almost no matter what you do
you're screwed anyway.
If somebody really wants to gain access to your account
they're going to be relentless to try and get in there one way or another
and eventually, they could get in. Because, if they're spending more time, trying to
get into your account, than what you're spending trying to protect it, then
they will get in eventually.
There's always so much that you can do, so much money you're gonna spend,
so much time you're gonna spend on it.
Generally, it's not a personal attack. They're going after the weakest link
because they're trying to do "click bait" and get money out of people
hold their data ransom, and that sort of thing
So, it's not usually a personal attack, so they go after the weakest link
So you want to make sure that you're not the weakest link out there.
You want to protect yourself as best you can
and really all you can do, is the best that you can do
with the resources you have
So if you consider like this...
A personal user, for just personal use like a student even or a retiree
They are not going to spend near as much money or effort on trying to protect their accounts
as a small business would.
and a small business wouldn't spend as much time and resources as
a financial institution, who also won't spend as much as the government or military.
So if you think of it like that, there is always more that you can do
it's just, how much is your data worth?
How much is your account worth to protect?
How much money are you willing to invest in this, and are you willing to hire
a team of experts, 24/7 round the clock, monitoring your accounts?
So in summary, the authenticator apps are still more secure
than receiving SMS messages
But, don't be ignorant! Don't blindly click on links, and
allow yourself to potentially download malware onto your phone that
would then open the door , and then the hackers would then have access
to your phone, to not only text messages and SMS, 2FA generators,
all kinds of other stuff that they could gain access to are on your phone
and cause all kinds of havoc!
So that's it for this video.
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