This is where multi-factor authentication comes in. By adding one or more steps on top of the username+password combination, the likelihood of unauthorized access can be reduced significantly. The methods for this are numerous. From movies we know voice recognition and iris scanning. These take place in real-world applications as well. We know fingerprints for identification purposes from smartphones and laptops. And the TAN used for online banking has today turned into widely used one-time passwords. These are often time-limited and can be linked to a specific physical device as well. In that way, the level of security is increased even further.

Why two-factor authentication makes sense not only for Nextcloud

Nextcloud is a cloud service that has set itself an ambitious goal: To be better than Dropbox, Google Drive, Office 365 and everyone else. Like the competition, Nextcloud is used for data exchange and storage in the office context. Security is therefore very important. Login data should be secured with additional steps.
While a good password offers some level of security, today, this is no longer sufficient. It is, on principle, possible to create almost unbreakable passwords. However, you should use a unique password for each account your have. Sometimes it’s hard to remember them all. Apart from that, even the best password cannot offer a fool-proof guarantee against unwanted access. Partly, this is due to careless handling – whether on the part of the user or by the service. But in part, this is also due to the increasingly sophisticated methods used by hackers to gain access to accounts.