On Desk Chair Analysts and Tech Talk Thursdays, the team tries to go through great lengths to get people to care about their internet security. We will recommend browsers and plugins, password managers, and VPNs. Our biggest recommendation is two factor authentication with our app of choice being Authy. Well, we can no longer do that.
Authy is going away
On Monday, Bleeping Computer discovered, Twilio, Authy’s parent company, changed a support page. The change stated that Authy’s Windows, Linux, and macOS apps are going away. This is scheduled to happen in August 2024.
For those who still don’t know, two factor authentication (2FA) apps store codes (usually time generated) that are used to help verify a user along with a password. These apps help increase security because bad actors would need the key along with your username and password. Even if the unauthorized user got a hold of a key, it will change in around 30 seconds making it near impossible (not 100% impossible) to gain access.
The thing about Authy is that they are only one of a few that has a desktop application that syncs between all of your devices. You can set up a 2FA code on your phone and it will be available on your desktop in minutes. This made it easy to copy codes from Authy and paste it into an app on your desktop.
Reprecussions
Removing the desktop app will make it a little bit more cumbersome to use 2FA codes and could possibly turn people off from them.
Those users using M-series Macs have a bit of saving grace, though. The Authy iPhone app works on those Macs so it would almost be as if the app never left. For everyone else, you’ll be forced to use the mobile app.
If you are planning on switching to another 2FA app that has desktop capabilities, be careful. Authy does not have the ability to export codes. If you are planning to switch, you will need to deactivate and reactivate 2FA support on all your logins and set them up elsewhere.
Because of its M-series iPhone support, I’ll likely be sticking with Authy as the only device affected by this change is my one Windows PC. However, I know for many users, this will come as a big blow.
Are you switching?
Source: The Verge
