Account security and password hygiene is a critical part of protecting yourself and your business. There are three layers to good internet hygiene:
Using 2FA through an app
Saving passwords in a password manager
Keeping your backup/recovery codes encrypted on your password-protected laptop.
The goal is to ensure that each layer exists on it's own, so if a bad actor gains access to one, they are still unable to access your account.
Here are a few guidelines to ensure you have the highest level of account security, along with some general best practices you can use for all internet accounts!
1: Always use 2FA through an app
SMS texts for your 2FA codes can be intercepted. That's why it's important to utilize a dedicated 2FA code app. Goodshuffle staff utilize either Google Authenticator (iPhone download, Android download) or Authy (iPhone download, Android download). Never back up your 2FA app to your email! If your email account is hacked, then the bad actor can access your 2FA codes.
2: Utilize a Password Manager
Passwords should be completely randomized incoherent strings of letters, numbers, special characters, and varying cases. If you can remember a password, it's not secure enough and can easily be spoofed by a bad actor. Utilizing a password manager not only saves your passwords for you, but it also enables randomly generated passwords to be created that would take hundreds of billions of years to ever guess! Everyone at Goodshuffle uses 1Password. Bonus - they offer family pricing, so your whole family can save passwords. You can also set up a shared vault, so you'll never have to ask your family what the Netflix password is.
3: Save your Recovery Codes on your password-protected laptop
If your phone gets lost, stolen, or damaged, you will no longer have access to your 2FA codes. If this happens, Recovery, or Backup, codes allow you 1 time access to your various internet accounts. These codes should not be saved in your password manager! If they are, a bad actor that gains access to your passwords would have a way into your accounts. Recovery codes should be saved on your laptop or computer, and they should be encrypted - that is to say, your laptop or computer should have a password to log on, and your recovery codes should be behind another password.
Macs have password-protected notes, and you can encrypt select files on a PC.
Want to get set up with 2FA for your Goodshuffle account, and require your team does the same? Click here.