2-Factor Authentication Basics
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is a security system that requires two different authentication factors to verify a user's identity. It can be used to strengthen the security of an online account. The two factors typically consist of:
- A password
- A special code (sometimes referred to as a single-use password)
When combined, these two factors help protect access to your accounts even in the case when your password has been compromised.
Time-based One-Time Password
Passify supports the Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) standard which fulfills the "Special Code" requirement of 2FA. This standard is common and implemented in many other 2FA applications such as Google Authenticator.
Passify's implementation of TOTP, like the rest of the application, is available while completely offline, meaning that no network connectivity is required and there is no communication with any outside service to generate the codes.
To enable TOTP, a website provides a special 2FA Authentication Key to Passify which Passify then uses to generate TOTP values.
A TOTP consists of 6 digits and is valid for only a brief period of time, typically 30 seconds.
Text Message and E-mail 2FA
Some websites provide their own TOTP-like 2FA and deliver the codes via text-message or email.
Cellular SMS text messages and unencrypted e-mail are not secure!Unencrypted e-mail and cellular SMS text messages are not private and can be intercepted. Whenever possible, we recommend using offline 2FA such as Passify's TOTP implementation instead of e-mail or SMS text message based 2FA.