How to Protect Your Accounts from 2FA Vulnerabilities: Avoid Common Security Pitfalls

Securing an account with only a username and password is insufficient because these can be easily stolen, guessed, or cracked. Therefore, two-factor authentication (2FA) is recommended for securing important accounts and has been a mandatory requirement for online banking for years.

2FA requires two distinct factors to access an account, network, or application, which can be from the following categories:

• Knowledge: Something you know, like a password or PIN.
• Possession: Something you have, such as a smartphone or security token like a Fido2 stick.
• Biometrics: Something you are, including fingerprints or facial recognition.

For effective security, the two factors used in 2FA should come from different categories. If more than two factors are involved, it’s referred to as multi-factor authentication. While 2FA significantly enhances security, it isn’t completely foolproof. Cybercriminals have developed methods to exploit vulnerabilities in 2FA systems.

Despite the secure connection provided by Transport Layer Security (TLS), attackers can use various techniques to intercept the communication between the user and their account, known as “man-in-the-middle” attacks. A common approach involves phishing pages, where attackers create fake websites that resemble legitimate services to trick users into revealing their

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