Forget Google Authenticator. THIS Secure Method is Even BETTER

Video Statistics and Information

Video
Captions Word Cloud
Reddit Comments
Captions
Authenticator apps that you’re might  already be using like Google Authenticator,   Microsoft Authenticator, Authy and many others  work great until…your phone gets stolen,   you need to migrate to a new phone,  you lose your phone or better yet,   your son drops a hammer on your  phone and it’s no longer usable. True story. Last month in fact. Thankfully there’s a little-known alternatives  that not only eliminates these concerns,   it adds an even greater level of  security than you already have.   And that’s what I’m going to show you right now. Two quick things. First, if you’re not  using some form of 2-factor authentication,   please start doing that, at least for  your most important accounts. Second,   if you’re using 2 factor authentication  but haven’t created a backup of that 2FA,   you’re setting yourself up for some major  headaches down the road. You need to do that. After my phone lost it’s short but valiant  fight with the business end of a hammer,   if I didn’t have backup of my 2FA,  I would have been in major trouble. My secret, and what I’m going to teach  you right now, is that some of my most   important 2FA codes aren’t kept in an app  or in the cloud. They’re kept with me,   right here on my physical key that  I can use on any device I want. Check this: on my new phone, all  I did was download the Yubico   Authenticator app and the moment I plug in my key,   the codes appear. I didn’t have to sign in or  go through any complicated migration process.   And when I move over to my computer to plug in  the same key, the same codes appear there too. The codes aren’t kept in the app. The codes  are encrypted on the physical key itself,   which means that I can access my 2FA codes on any  device without worrying about syncing all this   data to the cloud or losing the phone. Instead of  trying to set up 2FA codes on 10 devices at once,   I only need to set it up on my primary and  backup keys and then I’m good. If my son drops   a hammer on my phone again, it doesn’t  matter because my codes are kept here. How does this work? It’s really simple. Let me start by saying that this feature is only  available for the Yubikey 5 series keys. Yes,   I realize this isn’t free like an app is,   but using a 2FA key offers a much higher  security and Yubikey has kindly offered $5   off any key you purchase using the  code ALLTHINGSSECURED at checkout. To set up this secure authenticator app,  I had to download Yubico Authenticator   from the app store or on their website and  then plug in…or tap my 5 series Yubikey. You’ll see here that I’ve already set up some  dummy accounts on this test key, but adding a new   account is as simple as finding the three dots on  the upper right and then clicking “Add account”. From here, you’ll either scan the QR code  provided by the account you want to secure or   use the manual code they provide. So, for example,  let’s say I want to secure my LinkedIn account. I’ll find the security  settings and privacy settings,   which in this case they call “Sign in and  security”. You’re looking for 2-factor   authentication or what LinkedIn calls two-step  verification and then you’ll want to choose   the authenticator app over something  like SMS text, which isn’t as secure. Despite what you’ll see from a lot of  these websites, even when they tell you   to download Google Authenticator or in this  case LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft so they   say to download Microsoft Authenticator - you  don’t have to! These codes aren’t proprietary   to any app, so you can use whatever  you want, including a Yubikey 5 series. If you’re doing this on a desktop, you can  copy and paste this code into the Yubico   authenticator or if you’re on you’re mobile  device, simply click “Continue” and scan the   QR code. Verify the code and that’s it. If  you’ve tapped your key to access this on   your mobile device, you’ll have to tap  again to finalize the code to the key. Now I know some of the questions  you might be asking right now,   because I was asking the same things. First of all, I did setup a  backup key at the same time,   which just means plugging in or tapping a  second key and scanning that same QR code.   Even with this extra key, though, I still  record my backup codes for redundancy. Second, this key-based authenticator app can store  up to 32 of these authenticator codes per key,   which means that if you have a lot of  accounts that use authenticator codes,   you might have to be picky about  which ones you add to your key. And let me clarify because I get a lot  of questions about this. As a 2FA key,   you can use your Yubikey on an unlimited number of  accounts for authentication. But if you’re storing   authenticator codes on the your key, you’re  limited to only 32. Hopefully that makes sense. Oh, and for those of you who think “But now  all somebody needs to do is steal your key   and they have access to everything!”,  don’t get too bent out of shape. If you go into configuration in  the Yubico authenticator app,   find the menu item for Passwords and reset,  you can actually password protect your Yubikey,   essentially making this a multi-factor  authentication method instead of just a 2-factor. In fact, you can even set it up with most  phones to take advantage of your biometrics   to get access to the codes, whether  that’s your thumbprint or Face ID. This whole 2-factor authentication thing isn’t as  overwhelming as it may seem, I promise you. I’ve   got an entire playlist of videos explaining  every aspect of using this to secure your   accounts, and remember that if you use the code  ALLTHINGSSECURED, you can get $5 off a 2FA key   or $10 off two Yubikeys right now. I promise you  it’s worth it for the increased account security.
Info
Channel: All Things Secured
Views: 73,130
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: google authenticator, 2 factor authentication, two factor authentication, google authenticator new phone, google authenticator lost phone, two-factor authentication, google authenticator app, google authenticator backup, 2 step verification, google authenticator setup, 2 factor authentication iphone, google authenticator new phone transfer, google authenticator new phone qr code, google authenticator new phone iphone, google authenticator new phone setup
Id: FmnCdYsOuZc
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 5min 18sec (318 seconds)
Published: Tue Mar 21 2023
Related Videos
Note
Please note that this website is currently a work in progress! Lots of interesting data and statistics to come.