Improve Tumblr security by enabling Two-Factor Authentication
Tumblr announced today that Two-Factor Authentication is now available for all users of the site. Two-Factor Authentication adds a second layer to the log in process on websites.
Instead of accessing an account on Tumblr with the account's username and password, another code needs to be entered before access is granted.
That code is generated in real-time, usually through smartphone apps, SMS or hardware devices that can generate codes on demand.
In the case of Tumblr, you can either use an authenticator app that runs on your smartphone or receive SMS whenever that single-use code is required to sign in on the site.
Setting it up
To set up Two-Factor Authentication, you need to do the following:
- Visit the Tumblr dashboard and sign in if you are not signed in already.
- Click on the Settings icon, and on the right on Account - The Essentials.
- Alternatively, click on this link to open the account settings right away.
- Here you find Two-Factor Authentication under Security.
- Click on the switch to enable Two-Factor authentication. A menu is displayed where you need to select your country, enter your mobile phone number, and your account password.
- You will receive a SMS that contains the authentication code that you now need to enter on the Tumblr settings page. The code is valid for only two minutes, so make sure you keep the page open and your phone in reach.
- Once you have verified your phone, Two-Factor Authentication via SMS is enabled.
- You can switch that now to use an authenticator application instead.
- If you do, you are asked to scan a barcode and type the code generated by the authenticator app to do so.
- I tried this with Google's Authenticator application for Android, and it worked just fine.
- Once you have enabled the authenticator application option, you may disable the SMS option or keep both enabled.
Note: Some mobile apps are not compatible with the two-factor authentication system. This means that you need to generate special mobile passwords for Tumblr's mobile applications for Android or iOS to sign in to those as well.
The result
Next time you sign in on Tumblr you are asked for your username and password like usual, and then for a second code that you either generate in the authentication app or receive by SMS.
You can disable Two-Factor Authentication at any time. To do so, you need to be logged in on Tumblr and switch the feature on the Account settings page to off. You are asked for the account password to complete the operation.
Additional information about Tumblr's new security feature are available here.
Verdict
Tumblr's Two-Factor Authentication feature improves the security of accounts that make use of it significantly. While you need a smartphone for it, it is highly recommended as you will protect your account against many attack forms.
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Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?
Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.
I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
http://www.google.com/saved
@Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!
@Martin
The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/
Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.
Omg a badge!!!
Some tangible reward lmao.
It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.
With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.
This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)
Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.
And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.
First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[
Yes. Please. Fix the comments.
With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.
Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.
The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.
If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.
And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.
When will you put an end to the mess in the comments?
Ghacks comments have been broken for too long. What article did you see this comment on? Reply below. If we get to 20 different articles we should all stop using the site in protest.
I posted this on [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/] so please reply if you see it on a different article.
Comment redirected me to [https://www.ghacks.net/2012/08/04/add-search-the-internet-to-the-windows-start-menu/] which seems to be the ‘real’ article it is attached to
Comment redirected me to [https://www.ghacks.net/2012/08/04/add-search-the-internet-to-the-windows-start-menu/] which seems to be the ‘real’ article it is attached to
Article Title: Reddit enforces user activity tracking on site to push advertising revenue
Article URL: https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/
No surprises here. This is just the beginning really. I cannot see a valid reason as to why anyone would continue to use the platform anymore when there are enough alternatives fill that void.
I’m not sure if there is a point in commenting given that comments seem to appear under random posts now, but I’ll try… this comment is for https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/
My temporary “solution”, if you can call it that, is to use a VPN (Mullvad in my case) to sign up for and access Reddit via a European connection. I’m doing that with pretty much everything now, at least until the rest of the world catches up with GDPR. I don’t think GDPR is a magical privacy solution but it’s at least a first step.