Know How... 6

Today, Leo and Iyaz show you ways to keep your online stuff safer by making your tech life more secure.

Using 2-factor authentication can prevent your account from being accessed or deleted.

How to set up 2-step verification on Gmail:

• Click your name, then click Account > Security (left side) > 2-Step verification > Edit > you'll be asked to sign in again
• It's a 4 step process, put in your phone number. You can receive text msg or voice calls.
• You'll receive a text with your code
• You can set up trusted computers
• You'll be asked for the verification code when you sign in with an untrusted device

This can cause problems for applications that can't ask for verification codes including mail clients like Outlook, chat clients like Google Talk and AIM, and Android devices. From here, you can create passwords which are revocable. Now, these passwords aren't intelligent - so if you write "Google Talk" as the name of the password, Google isn't looking to see if it's being used for that particular usage.

The password is shown to you once. Once you lose it, it's gone. Google will send you an email about what you should do next like setting up a backup phone and the ability to have a printable set of backup codes.

How to set up 2-step verification on Facebook:

• Account Settings > Security > Login Approval
• Click the radio box next to "Require me to enter a security code each time an unrecognized computer or device tries to access my account."

Fighting social engineering

Social engineering plays a part in getting into people's accounts. Some of the old security questions revolve around now easily ascertainable information. For your security questions, get creative with your answers or just outright LIE!

Back-up your stuff

To avoid losing data due to remote wipes on something like an iPhone one of the simplest backup solutions is to go with Dropbox and turn on Camera Upload.

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Links

• How Mat Honan was hacked
• How Not to Become Mat Honan: A Short Primer on Online Security
• 2-factor authentication to prevent your account from being accessed or deleted
• Need a random PW? How about Steve Gibson's solution
• Manage your passwords with Lastpass