Two-factor authentication has been around for a few years now. However, it took a little while for it to catch on. For a long time, users relied purely on passwords to secure their accounts and accounts. It wasn’t until two-factor authentication became mandatory for online payments in 2019 that two-factor authentication became a popular model for securing accounts and accounts.
As a rule, innovations are often viewed with a certain amount of skepticism. However, this was less the case when two-factor authentication was introduced for online payments in September 2019. According to a survey conducted at the time, 76 percent of respondents already considered this step to be sensible.
The obligation for 2FA in online banking resulted from a decision of the European Union. This regulation therefore applies not only in Germany, but throughout the EU.
However, two-factor authentication is no longer just popular for online payments. It can also be found in all other areas.
In September 2019, 2FA began to be used for online banking. About 2 years later, in 2021, about half of all Germans were already using two-factor authentication for other services as well.
Among other things, social media accounts are secured via 2FA. This is also the case for the accounts of many Twitter users. Twitter offers its own two-factor authentication in the form of a code via SMS. However, this service has been subject to a charge since March 2023.
Users are therefore looking for an alternative to protect their Twitter accounts. This is also not uninteresting because there are still some question marks regarding 2FA among many people so far.
Although 49 percent of all Germans use 2FA for accounts, the numbers are still relatively low. Of these 49 percent, just 18 percent protect more than one account via two-factor authentication.
But what about the other half who don’t use 2FA? The reasons for this are usually that it is too complicated to set up or that they are unaware of the additional security offered by 2FA.
In addition, about 10 percent of respondents said the services they use don’t offer two-factor authentication.
Fortunately, there are numerous ways to provide yourself with two-factor authentication.
It is not mandatory to use the exclusive two-factor authentication from a particular service. There are also higher-level options.
For example, the Authenticator from Reiner SCT. TOTP codes can be used to secure all accounts and accounts you are on. You only need to specify your accounts in the Authenticator and enter the TOTP code when logging in to an account. So you only need one device for all your accounts.
Google and also Microsoft offer official Authenticator apps. These have been downloaded more than 230 million times since January 2020. These apps can also be applied to all sorts of services. At the moment, they are most popular for use on Twitter to avoid having to pay for in-house SMS authentication.
Another alternative are the biometric methods for double security of data. These are, for example, facial scans or fingerprints. In 2022, the global revenue for biometric security system was around $43 billion. In comparison, multi-factor authentication generated an estimated 13 billion U.S. dollars in revenue during the same period.
According to statistics, two-factor authentication is becoming increasingly popular. Awareness of data security has changed in recent years. The importance of data protection has entered people’s minds.
Moreover, attacks by hackers are not decreasing and the simple protection by passwords is no longer a hurdle. That is why two-factor authentication has already been mandatory in online banking throughout the EU since 2019. But this method of protecting data and restricting access is also becoming increasingly popular in all other areas.
