In rare cases, a persistent attacker can actually defeat two-factor authentication, said Christiaan Brand, Google Cloud product manager.Ĭybercriminals can access the one-time 2FA passcode sent to your phone through what's called ' SIM swapping,' in which they impersonate the victim and dupe a cellular provider into giving up access to the person's mobile phone account. The biggest internet services all offer 2FA as a free solution to help protect online accounts, but this setup isn't completely hack-proof either. This forces a user to log in with both a password and another piece of information, usually a one-time passcode generated on a smartphone. To prevent account takeovers, the tech industry is pushing two-factor authentication (2FA). A hacker can simply guess the login credentials or craft an email to try and trick you into giving up the details. Unfortunately, most people are still protecting their accounts with a mere password, which can make them all too easy to crack.

To break in, a hacker would need your password and the physical key, which can sign a digital authentication request to unlock your account.

A security key is a device that essentially adds another step to the account sign-in process.

Titan security key out of stock