october2021 - 4

FROM THE EDITOR
2FA, MFA, GWTP
I STUMBLED INTO the world of computers by accident. Having plenty of free time, a friend
and I decided to take a computer seminar one summer between college semesters, and I
was hooked. I changed my major (not the first time I had done that), became a computer
science nerd, and added a minor to my ultimate major in journalism.
I took a plethora of programming
courses and even tutored in
a course on computer logic - it was
the logic of it all that entranced
me. Especially with binary programming,
there's only 1 and 0,
on and off, right and wrong. It was
the most sensible thing I had ever
encountered.
Fast forward to today, I've
written several books on computer
applications, I use computers in
my job and my life all day long, I've
thought of myself as being pretty
savvy about computers. And when
I see other people getting hacked,
I assume they made a mistake
somewhere and that that won't
happen to me. And yet, somehow
I never bothered to set up multiple
layers of identification in my social
media accounts.
Then my Facebook Messenger
account got hacked and it appeared
that I sent out some sort of crazy
link to everyone in my contact list.
Those friends who trusted me to
only send smart things in Messenger
clicked the link and probably
exposed themselves to potential
hacking as well.
I know, it wasn't the login that
got me, I probably clicked on some
arbitrary enticing link that sent
me down the rabbit hole of getting
hacked. But once I made the
erroneous click, my standalone
password had been bypassed and
the hacker could get at my mailing
list. Changing my password after
the spam messages went out was
too little too late. I decided in that
instant (and that's all it took for
all of those messages to shoot out
to my connections) it was time to
get with the program (GWTP) and
institute two-factor authentication
(2FA) on my social media accounts.
Using 2FA or multi-factor
authentication (MFA) protects
accounts even when passwords are
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NSA
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GAIL PERRY, CPA
Editor-in-Chief
gail.perry@cpapracticeadvisor.com
@gperrycpa
inadvertently disclosed, as we noted
in an article we published in August
(www.cpapract iceadvisor.com/
21233733).
Along with a password that contains
a unique, non-patterned collection
of numbers, upper and lower
case letters, and symbols, there
should be a backup system to that
password with a biometric authentication,
a third-party authenticator
app, a number-generating fob, an
authenticator display card, or a code
sent to another device.
Note that the IRS has announced
that it now requires MFA on all 2021
online tax preparation products
(www.cpapract iceadvisor.com/
21164984), so it makes sense to get
accustomed to this more secure
method of connection, at least until
the world figures out an alternative
to passwords or the hackers find
something better to do with their
time. #hackedbutbetterbecauseofit
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october2021

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