Users will be required to utilise two-factor authentication to safeguard their Facebook accounts in the near future, according to the company. The social media business is considering making two-factor authentication obligatory for accounts that are at a high risk of being compromised by hackers.
Human rights advocates, journalists, and government officials are among those who are considered to be in high danger of being killed or injured. Enabling two-factor authentication for accounts gives an additional degree of protection to accounts.
Facebook will roll out the new technology as part of its upgraded security programme, known as Facebook Protect, which will be launched later this year. In order to secure the accounts of persons who may be at high risk of having their credentials stolen by cyber thieves, the programme has been established. The social networking app is also experimenting with the idea of making the function available to all of its users. Although it is possible, it is unlikely to occur very soon.
“Because two-factor authentication (2FA) is such an important component of any user’s online defence, we want to make it as simple as possible for them.” We need to go beyond increasing awareness and promoting registration in order to assist promote the broader use of two-factor authentication. The fact that there is a community of people who sit at extremely crucial places in public discourse and are highly targeted suggests that they should certainly enable two-factor authentication for their own security.” The functionality was revealed by Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Security Policy at Facebook, in an interview with TechCrunch.
Accounts that fall into the high-risk category will be required to use two-factor authentication in order to continue using the social networking app. Users who have been identified by Facebook as having high-risk accounts will be locked out of their accounts if they do not use two-factor authentication before the expiry date. While Facebook will not permanently disable a user’s account, it will need the user to use two-factor authentication in order to restore access to their accounts.
Facebook stated that 9,50,000 users have already implemented two-factor authentication (2FA) out of the 1.5 million accounts that have registered in the Facebook Protect programme. Facebook said that it would roll out two-factor authentication to more than 50 countries, including India, the United States, and Portugal, by the end of this year, as part of its ongoing efforts to improve security.
Listed below is the procedure for enabling two-factor authentication on Facebook.
- Log into your Facebook account — Select Security and Login Settings from the menu.
- Select the security technique that you wish to use and then follow the on-screen directions to complete the installation.
- Once you have completed the process of setting up two-factor authentication on Facebook, click Finish.
