Usually, Google enters into the April 1st tomfoolery with an excellent and often funny gotcha. This year, however, they took it 1-step too far and it went badly wrong. So we would like to write about 2-step which we hope you will read.
It’s really difficult to catch the public’s eye and try and offer advice about using technology safely. Personally, I don’t think Google have done themselves any favours failing so publicly and potentially losing trust along the way.
I’m writing this blog to do the complete opposite and hopefully, win trust and also offer some useful advice that we at Webster Consulting hope you implement. I must stress that we are not getting any payment for this our aim is to help the vulnerable.
We have found that the best person to keep you safe is you so please watch the video below and change what you have been doing. This second step will increase your security and safety.
If you need any help or have any questions please ask below. Most good applications now offer what is called 2-Step Verification (also known as two-factor authentication), you add an extra layer of security to your account. You sign in with something you know (your password) and something you have (a code sent to your phone).
You can use 2-step on most applications and one that we recommend is Lastpass and you can download it for free at https://lastpass.com/
Lastpass offers a number of third-party multi-factor authentication methods. For the sake of simplicity, you should probably use Google Authenticator.
Then head to LastPass Vault > Account Settings > Multifactor Options. Select Google Authenticator. On the follow page, change the Enabled option to Yes.Then under the Barcode row, click View and then scan the barcode in the Authenticator app.
From there, whenever Lastpass prompts you to enter a code, simply open the Google Authenticator app and enter the temporary code that refreshes every 30 seconds.
