How to Set Up Two-factor Authentication- Google, Microsoft and Apple Accounts

My previous article was all about How to set up Two-Factor authentication in Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Instagram, they were all social media platforms. But priority changes when Let's get started with google first.2. How to set up 2-step verification in google with access to your credit card (for shopping on Google Play), important messages and documents, and even your videos on YouTube—essentially your whole life—a Google account has to be well-protected.

Thankfully, the company has been working on 2FA systems since 2010. Google calls its system 2-Step Verification. It's all about identifying you via phone. When you enter a password to access your Google account for almost any service, if 2-Step Verification is on, there are multiple options to get that second step. First among them now: the Google Prompt. You simply add your smartphone to your account, make sure the Google search app is on the phone, and at login, you can go to the phone and simply acknowledge with a tap that you are the one signing in. Easy. If that doesn't work, you'll need to enter an extra code. That code is sent to your phone via SMS text, a voice call, or by using an authenticator app. On your personal account, you can opt to register your computer so you don't have to enter a code during every sign-in. If you have a G Suite account for business, you can opt to only receive a code every 30 days.

Google Authenticator—actually, any authenticator app—can generate the verification code for you, even if your smartphone is not connected to the internet. You must sign up for 2-Step Verification before you can use it. The app will scan a QR code on the desktop screen to give you access, then generate a time-based or counter-based code for you to type in. It replaces getting the code via text or voice calls or email. Authenticator apps also work with other services, like LastPass, WordPress, Facebook, Evernote, Microsoft, IFTTT, Dropbox, Amazon, and Slack. Once you've set up Google 2-Step Verification, access it again by visiting your Google account security settings. There you can select the phone numbers that can receive codes, switch to using an authenticator app, and access the 10 unused codes that can be printed to take with you for emergencies (such as if your phone dies and you can't get to the authenticator app.)

This is also where you generate app-specific passwords. Let's say you want to use your Google account with a service or software that doesn't use the standard Google login (I ran into this with Trillian on iOS). You typically get shut out of such a service if you've got 2-Step Verification activated, and will need an app-specific password to get on them using your Google credentials.2. Microsoft Two-Step VerificationMicrosoft has done a much better job in the last few years of tying together all its services under one umbrella account. I use mine for Outlook.com, OneDrive, Xbox Live, Skype, an Office 365 subscription, and more. Naturally, it should get some extra protection. You sign into your Microsoft account at account.microsoft.com/profile. In the top navigation, click Security; on the next page, click the more security options link.

Scroll down to Two-step Verification to turn it on. Microsoft will first suggest you get an app password to set up Outlook.com to sync with email on mobile devices, as well as other services that may need app passwords, which you can go in later to generate for any given app. You can then enter the ""Set up an identity verification app"" section. Microsoft recommends the use of an authenticator app because it makes its own for Windows Phone, iOS, and Android, which it will push on you to install. It also works with other standard authenticator apps, like Google Authenticator and Authy—but to use them, you must pick ""other"" during the setup. Scan the QR code displayed. You can skip the authenticator. If you do, Microsoft logins will still try to get you to use an app, but provide a link to other methods for getting a 7-digit verification code: text or email. Even if you choose text, it has to go to a phone you've pre-registered, and even then, Microsoft will make you re-enter the last four digits of the phone number as an extra bit of confirmation.

As you continue the setup, Microsoft provides a recovery code for you to write down and keep safe, a 25-digit whopper (like the kind it uses on everything from software registrations to Xbox giveaways). Microsoft also supports Trusted Devices, which is hardware that doesn't require you to enter any codes—you'll see a checkbox to mark a device (like a Windows 10 PC) as trusted when you log into it. Go back to security settings to revoke trusted devices all at once if you lose one. Microsoft automatically removes any trusted device you haven't logged into in two months; just trust it again on the next login.3. Apple Two-Factor AuthenticationYour Apple ID is a big part of your life if you're an iOS or Mac user. It's important for not just access, but also storage via iCloud, purchases at iTunes, iBooks, and the App Store, and membership at Apple Music$9.99 at Apple.

To activate two-factor Authentication, go to the My Apple ID page and sign in. Look for Security > Two-Factor Authentication and click ""Get Started...""You are then furnished with steps on how to set up 2FA for Apple using either an iOS device or via macOS. You can't do it via a browser on another operating system anymore. On iOS you go to Settings > iCloud, sign in, tap the arrow next to your Apple ID > Password & Security > Turn on Two-Factor Authentication.

On macOS go to > System Preferences > iCloud, sign in, click Account Details > Security > Turn on Two-Factor Authentication.You'll have to answer two of your three pre-set security questions and re-confirm your credit card on the account to get into the setup. Then you have to enter a valid phone number to get a text or phone call (even if it's the number already on the phone you're using for setup). If it is the same phone, the six-digit code will be entered automatically when it arrives, or just type it in. To get a code when needed, go back to iCloud settings, tap your username at the top (you'll likely need to enter your full Apple ID password again) > Password & Security > Get Verification Code. This means sometimes you enter a circular-logic world where you need to get a code on the very device where the code has to be entered. Apple also supports app-specific passwords. You can turn off Apple 2FA in iCloud settings, but then you have to go back to security questions (""Who was the best man at your wedding?"" etc.) to verify your ID, and no one wants that.