Keep your 2FA backup code safe!

I've had numerous users losing their phones who haven't written down their backup codes. This makes it impossible to recover your account unless you are an SVU user, as I have no way to verify your identity.

Write down your 2FA backup code!

If you have foolishly lost your backup code and currently have 2FA enabled, I strongly suggest deactivating 2FA on your account and then re-activating it, and write the backup code down this time and keep it in your wallet.

If you write to me to say you've lost your phone and your backup code and you don't have SVU I will write back to say you need to start a new sythe account.

Serious stuff is serious. You have been warned.

 

Most people who lose access have had SVU and can be recovered but I've had to turn away at least two people. In total about 10 have needed it removed since we implemented it.

Email and password are together a single factor (because password can be recovered by email.) I necessarily need a second factor (a second piece of information proving your ownership of the account) to disable 2FA from a sythe account otherwise it would invalidate the purpose of 2FA.

Frankly it is the user's responsibility to follow the 2FA instructions. They are painfully clear and simple to follow when enabling.

 

It should be possible to have a secure sythe account without donating. We run as a donation model but we are also free-to-use. Account security is not something to be held hostage for donations. It's not a perk, it's an essential feature. The more users collectively using 2FA the safer the entire site is.

 

Or people could request a PM like they have always been advised to.

Further, skype is decidedly insecure. Just because the person you are chatting with has the exact same skype-id as is written on a sythe user's profile that does not guarantee that they are the same person. Skype is one of the most frequently hacked services on the internet.

Requesting a PM is the only guaranteed way to protect yourself against impostors.

SuF, your attitude does you no justice. Pull your head out and consider for a moment that the decisions made by others might actually be the right decision.

 

Frankly your attitude is basically "I have most of an I.T. degree, therefore my opinion is the correct opinion." Get over yourself. Three of our long term staff members including myself have better qualifications than you do.

I'm happy to receive legitimate suggestions but dial it back a bit. Don't try to tell us our job. If you are unhappy with something or think we're doing it wrong then open a Socratic dialogue. You might find actually that there are good non-obvious reasons for the way we do certain things.

 

You're an abrasive and unpleasant person to deal with, and apparently cannot read. Please return to my earlier posts for the reason that a searchable database of skype-ids is a bad idea and would create a false-sense of security. Users need to request a PM to prove they are in possession of the claimed sythe account. A skype id is insufficient evidence that someone is who they claim they are.