Ignore Microsoft’s two-step verification at your own risk

How secure are your online accounts? For those who log in with only a password, the unfortunate truth is that your accounts are at risk of being hacked. Microsoft, though, has undertaken steps to protect your Microsoft online accounts. That’s because the company now offers two-step verification, a procedure in which you must log on not just with a password but with a security code, also. Ed Rhee, a writer with CNET, recently explained how this process works and why it’s important in a recent column.

Enhanced security

As Rhee writes, Microsoft introduced its own two-step verification process in mid-April. If you enable it, you’ll first have to enter a password to log onto your Microsoft accounts. Once you do that, you’ll need to take one more step: entering a personal security code to complete the log-in process.

Security code

Microsoft will send you your security code by e-mail, SMS or with a phone call, Rhee writes. You can even download and rely on an authenticator app on your mobile device to receive your security code.

Secure

It’s true that two-step verification takes longer. But it’s relatively easy for the savviest of hackers to crack passwords. Accounts protected only by passwords, then, are way too vulnerable. Adding a security code will mean that most hackers will ignore your accounts and go after the ones that are more exposed.