Facebook Security: Enable Two-Factor Authentication “Login Approvals” for Added Security
Just like Google’s 2-step verification, Facebook has added two-factor authentication called “Login Approvals” to help its hundreds of millions of users prevent unauthorized access to their accounts. Facebook has kept Login Approvals as an optional verification step to its log-in process.
If a user enables Login Approvals and attempts to login to their account from devices that aren’t saved as approved ones, Facebook will send them an one-time numeric code for verification. Facebook sends the numeric code as SMS message to the mobile phone the user has linked to the account, the company said Thursday in a blog post.
In this way, an account would be protected against any unauthorized access. The next time an unauthorized access occurs, the legitimate user would be notified that someone had tried to get access to the account and would be asked to change the compromised password.
Unlike Google which offers users backup methods for accessing their accounts through its two-factor verification, a Facebook user on the other hand will be locked out of his account until he logs in from an approved device, if he attempts to get access to the account from an unrecognized device and doesn’t have the authorized cell phone at hand.
Andrew Song, a Facebook engineering intern, in the blog post, wrote:
One challenge in building login approvals was balancing security and usability. Similar features on other websites require you to download authentication apps or purchase physical tokens to act as your second factor. These are good approaches, and we’re considering incorporating them in the future, but they require a lot from the user before being able to turn on the feature. To have the biggest impact and provide this added security to the most people, we decided on SMS as the best choice for a second factor. That’s a big part of the culture here at Facebook, whether you’re an intern or an old hand: focus on impact.
Everyday technology is advancing, it is becoming easier for unauthorized persons to steal usernames and passwords through variety of ways, including phishing scams, intercepting unsecured Wi-Fi communications and with keyloggers or malware. This is a good move by Facebook to protect their users through the implementation of a two-factor authentication mechanism which is becoming the de-facto in protecting users.
How to enable Facebook Login Approvals two-factor authentication?
The Login Approvals feature can be turned on by going to the Account Security section of the Facebook account settings page, the company said.
- After login in your Facebook account, click on the Account drop down menu present in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
- From this drop-down menu, select Account Settings.
- Under Account Security, click on the change link.
- Now, under Login Approvals, select the check box before “Require me to enter a security code sent to my phone” to start the wizard which will walk you through the process of enabling the two-factor authentication in your Facebook account.