5 ms·

Great now if I lose my phone, or if it breaks, I'm in grave danger of losing my google account.

Jxl180 5y ago
That’s the beauty of 2 factor. If you lose your phone and a bad actor picks it up, they now have one of your factors (what you have) but not “what you know.” Your example is a great reason for 2FA to exist.
- ergot_vacation 5y ago
  Consider 3 situations: 1. Google does not require 2FA. 2. Google DOES require 2FA on an account, but only requires the second auth if "suspicious activity" crops up. 3. Google requires 2 auths on each and every login. On 1, if a bad actor picks up your phone and tries to log in, they will fail if you haven't saved your login, or succeed if you've been lazy and saved it. In the latter case, that's really on you (and you might still be able to get your account back even then, if they didn't fully and quickly reset password and other details!) On 2 however, they will try to log in, fail, and trigger a lock-down that can only be lifted with both auths. One of which you don't have anymore. Congrads, you've just lost your account! 3 is the same as 2, just for different reasons. As soon as that phone disappears, you don't have the second auth, and you're screwed. And don't even bother with anything that isn't a phone. We both know nobody in the general public is using anything other than text for this. And some older folks don't even have that! Add on to this that SMS can be easily hacked, and it's pretty clear this whole system is a joke.
  - Jxl180 5y ago
    You just put in your back up codes to restore access. That’s why the backup codes/words exist. If I lose my crypto wallet or it gets stolen, I go to my bank, get the words from my safe deposit box, and use those words to seed my new wallet. Doesn’t have to be a bank — a home safe or filing cabinet will work, but when my phone broke I had zero problem restoring my 2FA on my new phone using the backup words.
darkwizard42 5y ago
You can use your backup codes. In fact your point is a good reason to HAVE MFA given that in the past, if you lost your phone all your data would be compromised.
- xboxnolifes 5y ago
  > In fact your point is a good reason to HAVE MFA given that in the past, if you lost your phone all your data would be compromised. In the past, wouldn't all your data still be behind a password? Am I missing something?

That’s the beauty of 2 factor. If you lose your phone and a bad actor picks it up, they now have one of your factors (what you have) but not “what you know.” Your example is a great reason for 2FA to exist.

ergot_vacation 5y ago
Consider 3 situations: 1. Google does not require 2FA. 2. Google DOES require 2FA on an account, but only requires the second auth if "suspicious activity" crops up. 3. Google requires 2 auths on each and every login. On 1, if a bad actor picks up your phone and tries to log in, they will fail if you haven't saved your login, or succeed if you've been lazy and saved it. In the latter case, that's really on you (and you might still be able to get your account back even then, if they didn't fully and quickly reset password and other details!) On 2 however, they will try to log in, fail, and trigger a lock-down that can only be lifted with both auths. One of which you don't have anymore. Congrads, you've just lost your account! 3 is the same as 2, just for different reasons. As soon as that phone disappears, you don't have the second auth, and you're screwed. And don't even bother with anything that isn't a phone. We both know nobody in the general public is using anything other than text for this. And some older folks don't even have that! Add on to this that SMS can be easily hacked, and it's pretty clear this whole system is a joke.
- Jxl180 5y ago
  You just put in your back up codes to restore access. That’s why the backup codes/words exist. If I lose my crypto wallet or it gets stolen, I go to my bank, get the words from my safe deposit box, and use those words to seed my new wallet. Doesn’t have to be a bank — a home safe or filing cabinet will work, but when my phone broke I had zero problem restoring my 2FA on my new phone using the backup words.

darkwizard42 5y ago

You can use your backup codes. In fact your point is a good reason to HAVE MFA given that in the past, if you lost your phone all your data would be compromised.

xboxnolifes 5y ago
> In fact your point is a good reason to HAVE MFA given that in the past, if you lost your phone all your data would be compromised. In the past, wouldn't all your data still be behind a password? Am I missing something?