No one wants to hand over their account to a hacker. Today, Facebook is adding a new feature that will help protect users from getting their accounts compromised.
Facebook users can now use a security key to authenticate their identity during the login process. If you use a security key, hackers won’t be able to get into your Facebook account, even if they have your username and password.
Security keys are form of two-factor authentication — an optional extra layer of security that helps you prove your identity when you log in.
During a typical two-factor authentication process, the user enters their username and password, then the site they’re logging in to responds by texting them verification code. The user enters the verification code, proving that he or she is the proper user of the account, and not a hacker logging in with a stolen password.
But this method has its downfalls. A determined attacker can reset the SIM for the user’s phone and intercept the SMS messages, as we saw in the targeted hack of the activist DeRay Mckesson last summer.
Security keys solve this problem by cutting out the need to transmit the verification code to the user.
