In a traditional log in situation you are prompted for information you know such as a username or email coupled with a password. However this single-factor authentication is typically not very secure for a number of reasons:
- Users typically use the same passwords for many applications or sites
- Users may have passwords that are easy to guess
- Hackers can compromise systems and publish the data (which is especially problematic if the passwords are the same across sites)
Because of this we have introduced two-factor authentication to secure your account with additional measures. With two-factor authentication you are first prompted for what you know and then prompted for what you have. In our case, you will have an authenticator application that will give you a six-digit code specific to your account and on your specific device. Even if your password was compromised your account would still be secure because the would-be hacker would not have the code that is only on your device.
Only after entering both a password and a pass code are you able to access your account.