We here at Apex Hosting take security very seriously and we are constantly working to ensure all of our client’s accounts and information are safe. We have recently made some pretty great strides in doing so and are proud to announce that 2FA is now available for all billing accounts as well as a second form of 2FA coming soon! We’d also like to talk about some ways you personally can improve security to protect your account information.
What is 2FA and how do I use it?
2FA is short for 2 Factor Authentication. This allows you to add a second line of defense from preventing unwanted logins to your account. Once enabled on your account, you will be able to connect it to what’s called an Authenticator. This Authenticator can be installed locally on your computer or a mobile device. The Authenticator will randomly generate a code around every 30 seconds. When a login isn’t recognized, suspicious, or hasn’t been logged into for an extended period of time, our system will ask for this code. You will not be able to login without this code and the code is created locally on your device so if someone is trying to access your account they would not be able to because only you would have the code. In addition our system will provide you with a backup code so in case you lose your Authenticator you can still access the account with the backup code if you keep it written down or save in a password manager.
How do I setup 2FA with Apex Hosting ?
Setting up 2FA with Apex Hosting is very easy to do and only takes a few minutes to do. The first thing you want to do is get an Authenticator. We personally recommend Google Authenticator which you can get for iOS and Android. If you don’t have a mobile device and want to use your computer you can get Authy for PC and Mac. Both of these are free and you don’t have to pay anything. You then want to login to your billing account at the following link. Once you’re logged in you want to click the drop down menu in the upper right that says “Hello,First Name”. In the drop down menu you will than see an option you want to click called “Security Settings”. A new page will open and you will see a section called Two-Factor Authentication. You want to click the enable button to enable 2FA for your account. Once you have done so a screen will pop up with a QR code or a code that you can manually enter. You will than want to open your Authenticator and click the add option. If you’re on mobile you can scan the QR code and on your computer you can enter it manually. Once you have added Apex Hosting to your Authenticator you will see codes randomly generating. You want to enter the code once in the window on our website and you’re set! You will get a backup code so be sure to write it down or save it in a password manager to keep safe in case you lose your Authenticator!
Password Manager ? What’s that ?
As I am sure you have noticed we have mentioned the words password manager quite a few times and some of you might now know what that is. A password manager is software that will store and encrypt all of your passwords so you don’t have to remember them. A great feature with this is that a password manager can randomly generate in incredibly strong password for you to ensure that your accounts are very secure and impossible for someone to be able to guess or hack into. Password managers have tons of other amazing features and can be used to encrypt and store other information for you that you may have to enter online like your driver’s license, phone numbers, emails and more! There are tons of great password managers out there such as Keepass, 1Password, Keeper and so many more. I recommend reviewing multiple to find one that best fits your needs and highly recommend everyone consider getting to remain secure online not just at Apex Hosting.
Have I Been Pwned ?
Have I Been Pwned is an amazing website that will tell you if your email address has ever been tied to any data breaches or hacks. If you are unsure if your information has ever been compromised we highly recommend putting your email address to check. It’s completely safe and has saved many people from future account comprises by being proactive in ensuring your accounts are safe. With this if you do find out you have been compromised we recommend changing your passwords for all of your accounts tied to that email address and if you use a password manager you can easily randomly generate strong passwords to prevent it in the future.
Security and the future!
This was a very long post but we hope it was very informative for all of you and we are continuing to ensure that we are the most Minecraft Server Hosting website! We do tons of things in the background to continue to ensure your accounts are safe and we hope with this information you can be even better protected in case someone gets your information from another website! If you ever have any questions about security or your account please feel free to contact our support to help you out!
Until next time,
Apex Minecraft Hosting
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