Your phone is often the key to your email, banking, shopping, cloud storage, and social accounts. NIST explains that multifactor authentication adds another layer when a password is used and can make accounts harder to access with just a stolen password NIST. NIST also describes passkeys as a newer way to prove identity online by storing a private digital key on a device you already carry, such as a phone NIST.
The hidden trick is to check account security settings inside important apps, not just phone settings. Look for options named passkey, two-step verification, multifactor authentication, authenticator app, security key, or password manager. NIST notes that some multifactor methods are stronger than others and that text codes are particularly vulnerable compared with some alternatives NIST. You do not need to change every account in one sitting. Start with email, cloud storage, financial apps, and any account that can reset your other logins.
A person uses a smartphone at a cafe table near a generic QR stand and Wi-Fi symbol.
A person uses a smartphone at a cafe table near a generic QR stand and Wi-Fi symbol.
Spot Message Tricks Before You Tap
