Apple ID Two-Factor Verification Expanded to Several New Countries

[am2am]

NOT working on my French account - still only security questions, no option for two factors verification

 

[Parasprite]

What's a 'later' of protection? It's happening some time in the future?

I read that several times being confused and even wrote a sentence or two that "they were using a more figurative sense of the word 'layer'"... before feeling really silly.

 

[XboxMySocks]

How do you activate this? OP has no links.

 

[wikiverse]

So you tell me that you either never made a typo in your life?

Signed: The Knig of ypTos

Every time you make a typo, the errorists win.

 

[xero9]

NOT working on my French account - still only security questions, no option for two factors verification

Same for my Canadian account

 

[macintologist]

i'm all for extra security, especially for an account that is linked to an active credit card.

FYI, when a new device logs into your Apple ID, you have to verify the last 3 digits on the back of your credit card before it allows you to make a purchase. This has been standard procedure for years.

 

[morespce54]

[...]Last May, Apple expanded its two-step verification system to several countries in North America[...]

Not to be picky, but since when there's more than two countries in North America???


...And nobody told me.

 

[brian017]

Not to be picky, but since when there's more than two countries in North America???


...And nobody told me.

There's over 20 countries in North America! So either you were taking a nap at the back of Geography class or the teacher was just s***!

 

[iDuel]

Not to be picky, but since when there's more than two countries in North America???


...And nobody told me.

North America spans as far south as Panama.

 

[phoenixsan]

Nice effort....

by Apple improving security in more countries where they have presence. Somewhat related, I wonder how things will work out if the "kill switch" legislature goes on and is enforced..........

 

[Westacular]

I have a Canadian account, and I've had this enabled for it since they (apparently briefly) expanded it last May. I remember there being an issue with the SMS not getting through the first time I tried to set it up; I can't recall what the resolution was, but I can say that it's been working fine for me (using the Find My iPhone push notification option) ever since. I didn't even realize until now that the feature had disappeared for other Canadians.

 

[Zxxv]

I've had my login details stolen about 10 times now and I still can't be bothered with two-factor verification for anything. What happens if I lose my iPhone and have to borrow someone else's iPhone to login and find it?

You set up the sms verification to go to someone else's phone. Someone you trust. They do the same with you. That way you don't have to have show sms turned off on iPhones lock screen.

Then you just log in, request sms code instead of iPhone code, the sms goes to your friend who you have just contacted, they send the sms to you. Log in.

 

[Jessica Lares]

You set up the sms verification to go to someone else's phone. Someone you trust. They do the same with you. That way you don't have to have show sms turned off on iPhones lock screen.

Then you just log in, request sms code instead of iPhone code, the sms goes to your friend who you have just contacted, they send the sms to you. Log in.

But now every time I login into my iTunes account (which is every 30 minutes mostly), my friend has to get that SMS code?

 

[Zxxv]

But now every time I login into my iTunes account (which is every 30 minutes mostly), my friend has to get that SMS code?

No. You choose what method you want. Send to ios device or send SMS.

And you can authorise the computer you own to not request codes (as often?). Trusted computer. That's what mine did.

----------

I just noticed in notification center at the bottom says show alerts from contacts , show alerts from everyone. Its set to everyone. I would guess using show alerts from contacts would lower the security issue of SMS codes being sent as they wouldn't show on a locked screen? If anyone knows better.

 

[panther quest]

Doesn't it seem like a bit of a security loophole that two step verification isn't enabled for logging into iCloud from a browser?

 

[Zxxv]

Thanks for explaining in greater detail nicely done!

#

Apple's verification is a bit different (and slightly better) than Google's two-factor authentication.

What happens is you will always get two choices after you enter your Apple ID password: you can either send the code by SMS or you can either send a code directly to your device. Yes, Apple can actually send any notification they want to your device, Big Brother style, since Apple owns all of its devices. Nothing to be afraid of this, it just means Apple can use it for cool stuff like two-factor authentication. It will literally send you a notification to any of your devices. The notification will appear on the lock screen, but it will never show the code, it'll simply say something along the lines of "Unlock your iPhone to view the authentication code".

So what Zxxv is suggesting is that you set up the SMS number to be a trusted friend (not that they'll know your Apple ID password anyway). Every time you need to login, a code will be send directly to your iPhone; however, if ever your iPhone is stolen, you will be able to send the code by SMS to your friend's device.

Something I didn't mention: you can set up multiple devices. So if you have an iPad or a MacBook, you can activate those as well. This will mean that every time you login, you will be presented with a list of options and you can choose which device to send it to. If your iPhone is stolen, you can just send the code to your MacBook. If all your devices are stolen, you can send it to your friend's SMS number.

And if your friend's phone is also stolen? Not a problem, because Apple will also ask you to print or write down an auto-generated "recovery key".

The recovery key is the code you will use as a last resort, if all of your devices are not accessible plus your friend's device is not available... it's recommended you keep the recovery key on a piece of paper in your wallet, or written down somewhere in a notebook. It won't be worth anything to anyone if your wallet gets stolen because (a) they still won't know your Apple ID password, and (b) you can login into your account and change the recovery key, which would void the old recovery key forever.

Very important that you store the recovery key physically on a piece of paper... there is no point writing the recovery key down in the Notes app of your iPhone, that defeats the whole point if your iPhone is stolen.



Plus, don't forget that she can always set up multiple devices for her codes, so if her iPhone is stolen, she can simply send the code to her MacBook. That way she would never have to use SMS if she didn't want to.



Yes, good point. The other option would be to turn off message preview on the lock screen, but this would, of course, compromise the convenience of seeing messages from everyone else.

 

[GenesisST]

Quick question for you guys: is it still better to have an über long password maintained by 1password (or Safari) or can I go back to something I can remember, now that I have 2FA enabled?

Thanks!

 

[morespce54]

There's over 20 countries in North America! So either you were taking a nap at the back of Geography class or the teacher was just s***!

North America spans as far south as Panama.

My bad...

I was splitting N.A. and Central America (which sure span as far as Panama). But none less, Mexico is part of North America. (and, yes, my teacher was s***! )