Did you know
that you can protect your Posteo account
from access by other parties
even if your password
ends up in their hands?
With Posteo, this is possible
using our two-factor authentication.
Hi! I'm Tim from Posteo
editor of our help pages.
I answer questions in our support
as well as in these help videos.
Today we're looking at two-factor authentication
which is additional protection for my email account.
Then when logging in, not only my password protects me
but also a one-time password.
Therefore, if someone obtains my password
they can not access my Posteo account.
Two-factor login works similarly
to the security system at a bank's ATM.
There, I need my PIN
and my card.
I can only obtain cash
if I combine these correctly with each other.
If I activate two-factor authentication at Posteo
it is the same for my email account.
I need my password
and a one-time password
which is on my smartphone.
And as you can see
both are correct.
To use the feature
I've installed a free app.
I don't need to use a Smartphone though.
There are apps for almost all devices
such as Windows
Mac
Linux
Tablets
and Smartwatches.
There are even special USB sticks.
Personally, I prefer to use my smartphone
simply because I always have it with me.
To show you
how simple the feature is
I'm now going to activate it for my email account.
Later, you can do this exactly the same way for your account
using the instructions in our help section.
First, I install a suitable TOTP app.
TOTP is the name of the technology we are using
and there are a lot of TOTP-apps.
On my smartphone, I've decided to use
the open-source app FreeOTP.
You can also use any other TOTP app.
So, now the app is installed.
Using the app on my smartphone
I can now activate two-factor authentication
in the settings of my email account.
To do this, I click "My account"
and then "Password and security".
Under two-factor authentication I then enter my password
confirm that I have installed a TOTP app
and click
"Activate two-factor authentication".
Now
a QR code is shown.
Posteo has just generated this code for me.
I take a photo of it using my app
and then
it's on my phone.
Using the QR code
my phone calculates a new one-time password
every thirty seconds.
The Posteo server
also does this at the same time.
In the next step
we will check that both systems generate the same code.
You can see this above.
I enter the one-time password my phone has generated
in the "Current one-time password" field
and click
"Confirm activation".
Finished.
After entering my password I now always
enter a one-time password
when logging in.
I'll show you how.
I go to the Posteo homepage
enter my username and password
and click "log in".
On the next page I enter my current one-time password.
The Posteo server checks the entries
and if they correspond
I can access my email account.
It worked.
For webmail users I have another small tip.
If you only use Posteo in the browser
you can protect your emails further
by activating additional email account protection.
You can find this feature in the settings
under two-factor authentication.
It's the small button
at the bottom of the page.
Additional email account protection blocks access
for email programs such as
Outlook and Thunderbird.
Personally, I usually read my emails in
Thunderbird or on my smartphone
and therefore don't use additional email account protection.
For webmail users, though, it's a good thing.
Lastly, another everyday tip:
Sometimes users contact our support
because they have accidentally deleted the app
or lost their device.
It's therefore best to save your code
on a second device.
For example, I also saved my personal code
on my computer.
Alternatively, you can simply write down the code
and keep it
in a safe place.
I hope I've encouraged you
to try out Posteo's two-factor authentication.
At the start, it can feel strange
to enter a one-time password
for each login.
You get used to it quickly though
and it significantly increases your security.
In our help section
which I have linked above
we explain step-by-step
how to activate two-factor authentication.
You can also find a list of apps that we recommend.
For additional questions you can always
write to my colleagues and me
via support@posteo.de
See you next time.