Comment by rglullis
11 years ago
Ok, serious question: how do you manage your tokens? What happens if your device flies out of the window?
A couple of months ago I managed to break the screen of my tablet with 20-30 services I use 2FA (Google Authenticator). I had to spend about 50 bucks just to get a new screen and repair it.
For some of these services I had the token saved on my keepass, but I always felt a little dirty doing that. If there was a way to keep backups of Google Authenticator data, I'd take it in a heartbeat.
You print off a list of backup codes and stick them in a safe. Then log in with the backup code, and set up a new Authenticator token.
You could also add a U2F token and store that away.
Not all of the services that implement Google's 2FA provide backup codes. Plus, the idea is that 2FA should be used anywhere, even for lesser-values web sites, so the idea of printing everything seems to be archaic.
Or save the token in an encrypted password manager so you can retrieve it later