Any multifactor system picks at least two of these, and sometimes all three.

Now the rubric with multi-factor authentication is that factors may be “something you know,” “something you have,” and “something you are,” which corresponds respectively and typically to a password, a physical device receiving or generating something, and biometrics (like fingerprints and retina scans).

I have to have them physically in my possession to validate a login. I haveĪ keychain-style doohickey from PayPal and one from E*Trade that carry out the same function, but they’re dedicated bits of plastic and silicon with a tiny LCD screen and contain their seeds locked in hardware. TOTP predates Google’s usage, of course, and was typically previously found largely in security cards and dongles used by corporations and financial sites. First you create a new entry or edit an existing one. The site validates that the number you entered matches its derivation, and grants you access.Īdding a TOTP to 1Password 5.2 for iOS is easy. Google Authenticator, an ecosystem of apps and synchronization likeĪuthy, or this new option in 1Password, you pull up the current time-bound sequence of numbers and enter them. When you log in from a new computer or browser, or in other circumstances Google’s security algorithms require, you’re prompted to enter this factor. Google was the first mainstream site to add TOTP via an app, and still offers it today.

1password add authenticator