Protecting Privacy in Two-Steps

Online security has been a hot media topic of late due to a number of high profile data breaches.  The result – companies are making efforts to enhance security for web-based services such as email or social media applications.  In a recent letter about privacy, Apple encouraged customers to use something called “two-step verification”.  (see http://www.apple.com/privacy/), which can now be used for data stored with iCloud.

Two-step verification or two-factor authentication, as it is sometimes known, describes a security feature which contains two elements or steps: something the user knows and something the user has.  A credit card with chip technology is an example of two-step verification: it requires something you have, the credit card, and something you know, the PIN.

Some email and social media applications including Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter now offer two-step verification.  When two-step verification is enabled, in addition to entering a password, the user is also required to enter a code that is sent to them by text message.  Two-step verification provides additional protection to the traditional username and password access which is used for many webmail and social media applications.

​When considering whether to set up an account on a website, check their security and authentication procedures. Your personal information may be at risk.