By now you’ve probably heard of 2FA, or two-factor authentication, and know you should probably be using it. When I first heard of 2FA, I didn’t really understand how it worked or why I would intentionally want to add more time and steps to logging in. It sounded like a time-consuming chore. I was worried that if I didn’t have cell service, I’d be locked out of my accounts (not true). Or that I’d lose access to everything if I lost my phone (also not true). Today I use 2-factor on all of my important accounts and you can too!

This is the first article in a series discussing general security practices that become essential when your money is digital. I have a confession. While today I work to help people and organizations secure their bitcoin, in 2013 my security practices were abysmal. My passwords were terrible. Really awful, like 12345 and Abc123.