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Google Authenticator

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Google Authenticator is a software-based verification system that generates unique one-time codes that are time-based on your mobile phone.

What Is a Google Authenticator?

Google Authenticator is a software-based verification system that generates unique one-time codes that are time-based on your mobile phone.

How Does Google Authenticator Work?

Before delving into the process of how the software works, let's talk about an event that will help us explain why and how this application successfully protects its users. In mid-2019, Singapore-based Bitrue got hacked. About $5 million worth of XRP and ADA tokens were taken. The hack was fruitful on the grounds that the hacker accessed clients' login credentials. 
Most of the digital asset exchange security procedures online involve providing the username and password to log in and take benefit of services. With the increase in the power of malware and hacking tools, it has become quite easy to extract these login credentials and steal your crypto tokens. What can be done to secure your account from hackers? That's where Google Authenticator comes into play.
When you attempt to log in, Google Authenticator essentially ensures the security of your account by requesting a code that is time-sensitive and can only be derived from the app installed on your phone. Therefore, even if the hacker has the login credentials, they will fail to access your account without having complete access to your phone. Here the concern of the SIM card getting hijacked also gets eliminated as Google Authenticator's two-factor authentication method makes sure that code is not stored on the SIM card. Moreover, its time-based nature eliminates other security concerns that users may have. 

Google Authenticator helps verify a user’s identity to grant them the right of entry to websites and applications. It is a measure taken by multiple services to add an extra layer of security.

How to Use Google Authenticator?

  • Download and log into Google Authenticator’s app.

  • For example, you are binding your Binance account in this method. Click on the “+” sign and then select the “Scan a QR code” option. On your binance account, a QR code will be provided to bind your account with Google Authenticator. Just scan the code and Voila! 
  • Just for the final confirmation, Binance may ask you to enter the six-digit code that will be generated changing every 15 seconds on your Google Authenticator app. Do it right away and now your account has been securely bound to the app! Make sure you save the setup key!

  • Whenever you login to your account by inputting your username and password, the website or app will ask you to input the six-digit code before allowing you to access the account.

Importance of Google Authenticator for Crypto Investors

When creating an account on a cryptocurrency exchange, it is important to set up Google 2FA to protect your crypto tokens. After numerous crypto hacks in the history of cryptocurrency, many exchanges have made this process mandatory. Not only does the applications make it necessary for a person to use multiple devices to regain access to an account, through its time-based code mechanism, it also makes sure that hackers don’t have enough time to crack two devices to gain access.

If you are an active trader with a substantial digital asset holding in your trading exchange account(s), it is strongly advisable to use Google Authenticator as an additional security layer.