WordPress two factor authentication is becoming more popular, with a growing number of two factor applications and plug-ins available in the WordPress ecosystem. Of the applications available today, we’re huge fans of Clef.
Clef is a two-factor authentication system (plug-in and application combination) that replaces your WordPress site username and password with the camera in your iPhone or Android phone. This is a huge improvement in security because even if a bad guy gets his hands on your WordPress site credentials, there’s no way to log in without also having your phone.
Using Clef
Using Clef is easy, and there’s an elegance in the Clef solution that we just really like.
- Install the Clef application on your iPhone or Android phone.
- Set up the Clef application on your device. This literally takes less than 60 seconds.
- Install and configure the Clef plug-in on your WordPress site. If you’re hosting with our managed WordPress service, WordPress two factor authentication with Clef is enabled by default. For maximum security, configure the Clef plug-in to disable passwords for Clef users. The plug-in will give you a secret “override” URL that you can use should you ever lose your phone. Be sure to save that URL in a safe place.
That’s it. Next time you go your WordPress login page, instead of seeing the familiar login screen you’ll be greeted with the image you see above. Fire up the Clef app on your phone and point the camera at the screen. Clef will log you in, and will automatically log you out after a period of time you define in the app. If you walk away from your workstation while still logged in to your WordPress site and want to end the open session, you can do that right from the Clef app without having to return to your desk.
If you’re really loving Clef, you can try the Waltz Chrome extension that allows you to use Clef to log into almost any site on the Internet.
Increasing the security of your site(s) with WordPress two factor authentication is something everyone should do. In our opinion, Clef is the easiest to use and most elegant two factor implementation available today, and its worth a look.
Need help getting set up with Clef on your WordPress site? Contact us! We’ll be happy to show you how we can help make your website more secure in short order.