Cyber Bytes: How 2SV can keep you safer online

Welcome to Cyber Bytes, a regular newsletter which gives you easy-to-understand cyber security advice, and tells you what steps you can take to protect yourself online.

In this issue:

• What is 2 Step Verification?

  • What are the benefits of 2SV?

• Don’t you mean MFA? Or 2FA?

• What can I do?

What is 2 Step Verification?

In the first issue of Cyber Bytes, we talked about how good passwords can help protect you online. We've also explained how you can use a password manager to create (and remember) good passwords.

Good passwords will help protect you, but you can add extra protection with 2-Step Verification (2SV). 2SV is a free function that is available for most accounts and online services. This includes email accounts, online shopping, financial services, social media and gaming accounts.

The principle of 2SV is simple. As well as asking for your password, a service or account asks you for an extra piece of information. It uses these two pieces of information to identify you, so you can log in.

Different services will allow different types of information. They'll often give you a choice, but common forms of 2SV include:

• A code sent by an SMS message to your mobile phone

• A code sent to an authenticator app (a mobile application that generates unique codes)

• A USB security key

• Your finger print

• A face scan

Once you've entered your extra piece of information, you can log in and use the service as usual.

What are the benefits of 2SV?

2SV keeps you more secure because it makes a criminal's job harder. A cyber attacker or fraudster might trick you into handing over your password. And if you don't have 2SV enabled, they can use your password to log in, access your data, impersonate you, or steal money.

But, if you have 2SV enabled, the criminal will need an extra piece of information to log in. And - since it's harder to get this information - it's likely they'll give up on targeting you.

And the good news is that 2SV only needs to be set up once: after that, you'll be more secure with each login.

Like most things in cyber security, 2SV isn't full-proof. Criminals are finding ways to hack 2SV. They could steal SMS codes, or send you lots of 2SV requests, hoping that you’ll approve the request and let them in.

But, the fact remains: 2SV is a free, straight-forward cyber security measure. And when combined with a good passwords, it will help keep you safer online.

Don’t you mean MFA? Or 2FA?

If the term Two-Step Verification (2SV) is confusing, that’s because there are lots of other terms for it. You might also know it as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) or Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). All of these terms broadly refer to the same process. But it’s worth knowing them because different services may use different terms.

Whatever you call it, enabling 2SV (or MFA, or 2FA) on your accounts and services will help keep you safer online.

What can I do?

The most important thing you can do is turn on 2SV wherever it’s available. Most online services now offer 2SV but - in most cases - you’ll have to enable it. This will mean you have to log in to your account and set it up.

If you want more support and advice on how to do this, you can book a FREE cyber advice session with our team by completing this form.

You can also find out more using these resources below: