Two factor authentication: GitHub joins the party

Code repository/collaboration tool GitHub announced support for Two Factor Authentication (2FA) today. At Burner engineering, we're very excited about this! Why? It helps cut down on hijacked accounts of the Mat Honan variety.

Clearly, 2FA is not a panache, but combined with other security measures, it's a great way to prevent the most valuable parts of your life from getting taken over by a spammer or someone who used social engineering to guess your password. It's also great to see GitHub joining the ranks of Google, AWS, Twitter, and Facebook in this extra level of security.

Even better, you can use a Burner number with your GitHub Two Factor Authentication. This lets you keep your secure authentication bundled together on one identity. I created a new Burner for this purpose- see the screenshot below. I use different Burner numbers for different contacts like recruiters, car salesmen, Craigslist, vendors, and sales leads.

By the way, with Github, make sure to store the recovery codes and also set a fallback SMS number! That will allow you to access your account even if something happens to your phone. Also, don't share your private Burner phone number if you are using it in this way.

Close fans of the Burner application notice we aren't including ourselves in the 2FA camp. Why is that? Because we are explicitly tied to your smartphone. We send a verification code to your phone to verify it's you. That's slightly different than texting while you are logging on to a website.

If you are excited about two factor authentication, the first five people to use the promo code TWOFA in the Burner app will get some free credits.

(Thanks to devops god Dave Zweiback for pointing this out! See his previous thoughts on the subject too.)