Researcher says PayPal's two-factor authentication is easily beaten

August 05, 2014

A security feature offered by PayPal to help prevent accounts from being taken over by hackers can be easily circumvented, an Australian security researcher has found. PayPal users can elect to receive a six-digit passcode via text message in order to access their accounts. The number is entered after a username and password is submitted. The security feature, known as two-factor authentication, is an option on many online services such as Google and mandatory on many financial services websites for certain kinds of high-risk transactions. Since the code is sent offline or generated by a mobile application, it is much more difficult for hackers to intercept although by no means impossible.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2461520/paypals-twofactor-authentication-is-easily-beaten-researcher-says.html#tk.rss_all