Authentication, which is the process of verifying identity to be true, can be made using 3 different factors:
1- Something you know(Passwords, PINs)
2- Something you have(Keys, cards)
3- Something you are(Retina, fingerprint)
In Facebook, the first factor is used, which is Something you know. But what if you can add an extra layer of security to your account by requiring another factor along with your password to make sure only you can access this account?
This is called Multi-Factor authentication, which in our case and using Facebook, uses two factors, making it a Two-Factor authentication. In this article, we will explain a step by step tutorial showing how to activate Two-Factor authentication to log in using both your password (Something you know) and a token sent to your phone (Something you have).
After logging into your Facebook account, go to Settings
Next, go to Security and Login
If you didn’t add your phone number and activated SMS alert then add it by pressing the Add Phone link. A dialog will appear asking for your phone number.
After you finish with adding your number, press Set Up near Two-factor authentication. Then choose Enable
Two-factor authentication is now enabled. But you still need to do a few things.
1- Clear Authorized Logins
.2- Log out of all devices.
3- Get Recovery Codes.
4- Change your password.
In Security and Login go to Authorized Logins and click on edit. Remove all the devices. Then go to the Where you’re logged in section and click on See More
Then click on Log Out Of All Sessions. Finally, to avoid lack of access when you don’t have a mobile connection on your device, go to the Recovery Codes section in Security and Login and click on Get Codes
This will give you a set of codes to use when you don’t have any connection on your mobile device and need to access Facebook, please note that you can only use the newest set you generate. It is highly important that you keep these codes in a secret file so that only you can access them, the ideal place to store is on your mobile device and not on your computers or laptops.
Make sure your email is secured and don’t forget to change your Facebook password at the end of this process! (Changing the email password is a plus. Here are some password tips for you:
1- Make your passwords longer than 8 characters.
2- Don’t use dictionary words, your name or simple passwords.
3- Don’t use the same password for all your accounts.
4- Use all possible character types in a hard to guess the password(numbers, lower case letters, upper case letters, special characters)
5- Be sure no one watches when you write your password.
6- Even if you trust your friends, they can accidentally give away your passwords so if you give your password to a friend, change it as soon as they don’t need it.
7- Change your passwords periodically, once every month is a good option.
8- Make passwords that are easy to remember but hard to guess.
9- Don’t write your password in a place where other people can see it.
10- Don’t type your passwords on computers you don’t trust, they can log what you write.