LinkedIn keeping hackers at bay with two-step verification

Users of the professional social-networking site now have the option to add two-step verification to their accounts, which is designed to add another layer to the sign-in process when logging in from a new or unknown device. Those who opt in will have to enter their regular password, plus a numeric code that is sent to their phone via SMS every time they log in. “Most Internet accounts that become compromised are illegitimately accessed from a new or unknown computer (or device),” LinkedIn’s Vincente Silveira wrote in a blog post last week. “When enabled, two-step verification makes it more difficult for unauthorized users to access your account, requiring them to have both your password and access to your mobile phone.” Two-step verification can be turned on using the site’s settings page for users’ security options. After the feature is enabled, the site will send the code upon sign-in once per device. A user will be notified via email each time his or her account is signed into using a new device. The changes come one week after Twitter introduced two-factor authentication following a series of recent hacks targeting high-profile businesses on the blogging site, and a year after LinkedIn was in fact hacked, forcing the enterprise social network to reset the passwords of affected accounts. The company did not confirm how many passwords were involved, though it reportedly affected about 6 million users. LinkedIn is not the only Internet service to have suffered a breach recently, prompting many of the tech world’s biggest firms to implement optional, two-factor authentication. Just last week, Evernote added the service, about three months after it too was hacked. Microsoft, Twitter, and Apple have all done the same. While two-factor login does add an extra layer of security, it is not a panacea, some security experts have said. With an email phishing attack, for instance, a hacker could fake a login page to ask for the code the user just received, it has been argued. Aside from two-factor logins, Google laid out several safe password tips for users to follow, though some of the advice was fairly basic. “Use a different password for each important service” and “make your password hard to guess,” the company said.]]>