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Topic: Losing phone with 2fa means you are locked out forever? (Read 630 times)

member
Activity: 112
Merit: 10
Buy a cheap 10 buck phone?
legendary
Activity: 1806
Merit: 1521
Since most 2Fa services send text messages, is it common for the primary carriers (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, etc) to restore access to the previous SMS account on the new phone? Or is it tied to the physical hardware?

Or put differently, if you use 2fa with your phone and you lost the phone, what would you do personally?

Wouldn't they just shutdown your old phone/SIM card, and transfer all of the information to a new SIM card?  Plus most carriers these days (at least in North America) have a history of everything available (like old SMS if you need info from there)
newbie
Activity: 13
Merit: 1
Since most 2Fa services send text messages, is it common for the primary carriers (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, etc) to restore access to the previous SMS account on the new phone? Or is it tied to the physical hardware?

Or put differently, if you use 2fa with your phone and you lost the phone, what would you do personally?
donator
Activity: 1218
Merit: 1079
Gerald Davis
If depends on the specific service.  There is no universal rule for lost 2FA just like there is no universal rule on lost passwords.
newbie
Activity: 13
Merit: 1
I have 2fa set up on some websites and like the extra security. But what happens if I lose my phone? Is it possible to get the text messages elsewhere (which would be a security hole) or will I lose access to my accounts forever? Or will it be fixed once I replace the phone? I'm trying to find a balance between having enough security to prevent others from accessing the account but not so much security that I increase the chances of permanently locking myself from the account.
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