WAYNESBORO- This is Part 3 of a 6 part interview by Samantha Wolfe of the Law Offices of Samantha K. Wolfe LLC, with Cermak Technologies, Inc. owner Mike Cermak, Jr. The interview is lightly edited.
Sam: Talk to me about 2-factor authentication.
Mike: For those who don’t know what it is, it’s when there is some other thing you are using to prove who you are.
The idea is like using an ATM machine. You prove who you are by something you know and something you have – it is two factors. If I walk up to an ATM and even if I know your PIN code, I cannot get any money out unless I have the card. In the same way, if I want to log into your bank’s website, I can’t get into your account even if I know your password unless I also have your phone. So, two different things make it much harder for a bad guy to get into your stuff.
If you are going to log in to a website, like your bank, typically you must put in your email address or username and a password. But now, every bank out there requires something more, at least the first time you log in from a new device. They will send a text message to you and ask you to tell them the code they just sent.
There are other ways to do two factors as well. You could do a password and a biometric, whether it is your face or fingerprint or something else. Then there are also apps like Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator and a few others where you install an app on your phone that randomly generates a six-digit code every minute or two, and that can be used as an effective form of identification.
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See part 4 of this interview in tomorrow’s edition. If you have technical questions you would like to ask, email news@ln1.obzservices.com with the title “Ask the Tech Guy”. Mike will respond to your questions in the Voices section of LocalNews1.org.
Mike Cermak is President of Cermak Technologies Inc, with offices at 46 South Potomac Street in Waynesboro and 201 Prospect Avenue in Hagerstown. For over 20 years, Cermak has managed computers and networks for businesses in Franklin County, PA and Washington County, MD. They specialize in IT services for small businesses, including computer service, system management, business phone systems, surveillance cameras, and website development. Cermak Technologies can be reached at (717) 762-8234, 1-888-4-CERMAK, or contact@cermaktech.com.
Samantha Wolfe is an attorney in Waynesboro PA, located at 20 East Sixth Street, Suite 206, Waynesboro PA 17268. She can be contacted at 717-655-2676, or through her website, www.skwlawoffice.com
