How to Protect Your Accounts using iPhone’s Two-Factor Authentication is one of Apple’s best security features recently. Nowadays, two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is not a nice-to-have feature, it’s a must-have. Hacks and data leaks have become common, and if you take security seriously, you should always enable 2FA on all of your online accounts.
iPhone’s Two-Factor Authentication
This feature would amp up your account security by requiring you to apply for an extra loin credential beyond just a password. This second factor actually might become a biometric ID or verification code on your Smartphone.
Text messages and emails happen to be one of the most common types of 2FA, but they are not the most secure either since they can both be easily spoofed. In other to be extra safe, a lot of people make use of an authenticator app in other to generate time-sensitive, one-time passwords.
On the iOS 15, Apple stayed true to its privacy-focused reputation by adding a baked-in 2FA feature. This means that you would not need to download any third-party 2FA apps to protect accounts online, assuming that you use an iPhone. Now let’s take you through how to set up and use the feature.
How to Set up Two-factor Authentication in iOS 15
The 2FA feature is expected to work for websites or apps that support the feature. Some of the apps do not require 2FA, so have it in the back of your mind that this security measure might not apply to all of your accounts. With that stated, here’s what you would need to get started.
- Launch the Settings, scroll down, and then tap on Passwords
- Choose a website or an app through which you would like to make use of 2FA. If the website that you are securing is not listed, tap + and then enter the website and login details.
- Next, you tap on set up verification code
- Head out of the settings app and then head to the website or app that you want to set up using the authenticator.
- Locate the 2FA setup settings in the account that you would like to protect. This varies depending on the website, but generally, you should find it under the settings > security or the section where you make changes to the password.
- If you find a setup key, all you have to do is simply copy it to your clipboard, and then head back to the settings app. Select the enter key option, paste it in the setup key, and tap on the Ok icon. If you receive the QR code, tap the scan QR option and make use of your camera to scan it. of course, this would work if only you are checking the website on a device other than your iPhone.
- Once the setup key or the scanned QR code is entered, a code should appear in the verification code field. Enter the code with the website that you want to set up with 2FA. Make sure that you are quick with it, though, because this code would change after every 30 seconds.
Apple’s Other Security Feature
Once that is done, two-factor authentication should be enabled for that website. Anytime you choose to log in to that website in the future, you would be asked to enter a verification code, that would be generated by the built-in feature and auto-filled by your iPhone.
If at some point your iPhone does not autofill the verification code when you need it to, you can choose to view the regenerating 6-digit codes in the settings > Passwords under the account that you are trying to access.
2FA is very vital for maintaining your security online, and seeing as Apple offers it as a convenient built-in feature, you are expected to consider taking advantage of it. in more exciting news, a passwordless future is very close.
Microsoft, Apple, and Google have recently agreed to allow support for the FIDO Alliance’s password-less standard. Instead, of storing and managing complex passwords, you would only require one passkey to log into all your accounts on all your devices. This new standard would be made available in 2023, but until then, 2FA will have to do.
