It’s a lot faster to log in with a physical key.
At NamesCon in January, GoDaddy promoted the ability to use physical security keys that use the FIDO U2F standard for two-factor authentication.
I already use a key for Google, so this was interesting to me. Not only is this more secure, but it’s much faster to use than an app-based two-factor code.
Before switching to a physical key with GoDaddy, here’s what my login process looked like:
1. Access GoDaddy
2. Damn, I’ve timed out. Need to log in again
3. Locate my phone (I left it upstairs again!) and open authenticator app
4. Type code from app into my laptop browser window
Using a physical key is much easier. After entering my login credentials, all I have to do is touch the blue Yubi key inserted in my laptop (see picture above) rather than find my phone, opening the app, and typing the six-digit code. (You can also use Bluetooth keys.)
Until GoDaddy released its new iOS Investor app, you couldn’t use a physical security key to log in on GoDaddy.com and then use app-based login on the app. The new app fixes this problem. Just set up app-based as your backup two-factor login.
My phone recently went out of sync with Google Auth and it was an absolute nightmare to gain access to my account. The fact that I had lost the account number made it ten times worse. I had to deal with the Godaddy legal dept and it took many “faceless” emails to solve the problem. Once able to gain access again I could not get the 2FA to work again and ended up transferring out to another registrar.
@ Data Glasses, it sounds like it works then. If someone else was trying to steal your account, you’d want GoDaddy to jump through the same hoops too!
+1
Well if I cannot get the 2FA to work again after gaining access to my account it is a fail, the usb key seems like a better option.
In general the USB Fido solution is very usable. I would advise against leaving the key in the device when you leave you device though (a good way to ensure this is to have the key on a fob with your car keys as you are not driving off without it that way).