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LOCKED-OUT ACCOUNT USERS WRESTLE WITH TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION
TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION AIMS TO KEEP HACKERS OUT OF ONLINE ACCOUNTS. IT
SOMETIMES KEEPS THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS OUT TOO.
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CONSUMERS WHO USE TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION ARE FINDING THAT CHANGING A PHONE
NUMBER OR NEGLECTING TO WRITE DOWN RECOVERY CODES CAN LEAVE THEM INADVERTENTLY
LOCKED OUT OF ONLINE ACCOUNTS.
Photo: Thomas R. Lechleiter/The Wall Street Journal
By Katie Deighton
March 9, 2022 5:21 pm ET
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Companies are increasingly pushing account holders to embrace two-factor
authentication, a login method that typically makes users supplement their
passwords with codes sent by apps or texts.
But the extra layer of security, also known as 2FA, is also making it easier for
people to get locked out of their accounts. That has given bad actors a new
opportunity to exploit, according to some security executives. And tech
companies have proven slow—in some cases unable—to help rightful account holders
regain access, some users say.
Naomi Taylor, a branded-content strategist based in London, has been trying to
get back into her Facebook account since last October, when a hacker logged into
her account with her password, switched on 2FA, and connected it with a phone
number that wasn’t hers, blocking her from logging in. She has sent Facebook a
photo of her passport and driver’s license to prove her identity seven times,
but each time has received an automated message saying her identification cannot
be authenticated, she said.
“I haven’t been able to speak to someone because there aren’t any [phone]
numbers,” she said.
As more of society moves toward account-based software and apps for everything
from banking to health, the repercussions of getting locked out are becoming
more serious, according to Brian Manning, chief executive and co-founder of
Sharehold, an app from developer ExSilico Ltd. that aims to improve the recovery
process.
Two-factor authentication makes accidental lockouts more likely, said Mr.
Manning.
Many users set up systems to text their phone numbers with codes needed to log
in. But phones are easily lost and stolen, and people sometimes change their
cell numbers before remembering to update their accounts, Mr. Manning said.
Still, technology companies call 2FA a vital measure to protect against hackers
and say it works when used to its fullest extent. That means consumers should,
where possible, add two different types of verification methods, such as an
email address or a verification app in addition to their numbers. Verification
apps such as Authy and Google Authenticator generate codes on a user’s device
rather than sending them by text message.
Consumers should also store recovery codes that can provide access if other
methods fail. But most users aren’t aware of recovery codes—also called backup
codes—which are usually shown to a user the first time they switch 2FA on and
then stored in their security settings, Mr. Manning said. And even those who
follow protocol can struggle.
Daniel Burnett, a content creator, knew he could use his backup codes to get
back into his Discord instant messaging account when his phone was stolen at a
music festival in Orlando, Fla., last November, and his account was sending 2FA
codes to his lost phone instead of its replacement. The problem was that the
backup codes were stored on his desktop computer—at his home in San Diego.
“I contacted support. It took three days until they got back, and they basically
just said, you’re out of luck,” he said. He regained access only when he
returned home a week later.
Danny Duong, director of customer experience at Discord Inc., said users can
disable 2FA or search for digital copies of their recovery codes if they are
logged into their accounts on other devices.
Failing that, however, “there is no recovery,” he said.
Some startups have designed products to make sure backup codes don’t get lost.
Sharehold, the app co-founded by Mr. Manning, lets users store their recovery
codes and share them with trusted friends and family for ease of access.
Guemmy Kim, Google’s director of account security and safety, advises users to
simply write down their backup codes and store them in a wallet or with a
passport. However, she said, “I think most people don’t know about them.”
Tech companies say they emphasize automation over human customer service to
benefit locked-out consumers asking for help, calling it faster, and harder for
hackers to fool. Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is trying to improve the
recovery experience but still employs automated recovery processes before
letting people reach a staffed support center, said Nathaniel Gleicher, head of
security policy at Meta.
Groups such as politicians and journalists that are more likely to be targeted
can more easily get through to a human, he added.
Meta didn’t immediately comment on Ms. Taylor’s situation.
Google has in the past few years shifted away from manual recovery processes to
automated ones, enabled by improvements to its technology’s ability to pick up
on suspicious account behavior, Ms. Kim said.
“The thing that’s missing, that I do recognize, is sometimes users just want to
talk to somebody to almost handhold them through the process,” she said.
Write to Katie Deighton at katie.deighton@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared in the March 10, 2022, print edition as 'Two-Step Verification Snafu.'
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