Comment by 51Cards | Hacker News Reader

Comment by 51Cards | Hacker News Reader

I haven't set up two-factor auth yet because I don't always have my phone handy and my understanding of it is that on each log-in you need to use both factors. My comments below are based on this understanding so forgive me if I'm wrong.

What I would love is if instead it asked for both factors under these circumstances:

- option A - on every login like it is now.

- option B - at least once every X days, with a warning that "within the next three logins you'll need to use your second auth" so I will know when it's coming without being locked out because my phone is dead.

- in both of the above cases ALWAYS require two factor auth every time I change the account settings (like password, recovery addresses, etc.) Possibly even require it when I try to do things like purge a mailbox entirely or bulk email all my contacts.

Having this blended option would make it a no brainer for me

Edit: Thanks all for the clarifications below. I am going to give it a try.

As for not always having your phone with you, you can print out one-time passwords. So you print some out, put them in your wallet (and maybe more in your home), and then if you don't have your phone/your phone breaks/whatever, you can use one from that list. But then that one off of that list is dead.

Also, I'm pretty sure there's some option where it only does the 2nd factor once a month if it's on a computer it recognizes.

Yes, when you enter in the second-factor digits you can tick a box to have it "remember" you for 30 days on that specific machine.

It has the option (on by default actually) to remember that session for the next 30-days.

I turn it off everytime, because I want to be asked for my second factor regardless of the situation.

In the event I don't have my phone with me, I carry the printout of backup codes in my wallet.

For those that have Android phones with CM7... you can now assign actions to long-press Home and Menu. Long-press home is usually the task switcher (but you can change it to other task switchers with more features). I have my long-press menu set to open Google Authenticator with my Google second-auth OTOP up... so I'm two button presses away from my OTOP code.

Just thought I'd throw it out there. I know it's frustrating to have to unlock, quit app, (wait for the home screen on the slower phones), switch to the App Drawer, scroll, click.

It asks on every login or you can opt to not require the second factor for 30 days on that machine via a checkbox when entering the other factor. You can also print out a list of 10 one-time use codes to log into your account if you don't have your phone handy.

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