\*\* Adding this here for extended visibility\*\*
Another year, another CoD and another reminder to secure your account!
Another reminder that there are little Timmy’s are out there waiting to get their hands on your account and ruin all your time and progress. This is fairly quick process, but any time spent on this vastly outweighs the cost of losing your account.
FYI I am a PC player, so I know how to do it on PC and will need some fact checking for console.
Authenticator App:
1. Open your app store on your phone (Play store for Android)
2. Search for Microsoft Authenticator and download
3. Blizzard has its own Authenticator app for the phone. From your mobile app store, search for Battle Net Authenticator App and download.
If you don’t have a phone, there is an Authenticator App for PC called Authy ( [Download – Authy](https://authy.com/download/) ). Personally, never used it, but I am told it is a similar experience to the apps on your phone.
PC:
Blizzard:
1. Open browser and go to Blizzard’s login page [https://account.blizzard.com](https://account.blizzard.com/)
2. Enter your username and password
3. Top right of the page you will see your name with a drop-down arrow, click the drop down and choose Account Settings.
4. The Account Overview page will load. On the left-hand side click Security
5. The Security page will now load. On the right you will see set up Authenticator, click Add Authenticator
6. Select Other Options: Set up a mobile authenticator
7. Enter the security code sent to your Blizzard email
8. Enter the serial number found on your Battle Net Authenticator App
Activision:
1. Sign into your Activision account [https://s.activision.com/](https://s.activision.com/)
2. Top right of the page, click Profile. This will open your profile page.
3. On the left-hand side, you will see Privacy and Security, click it
4. On the right click “Set up Two-Factor Authentication”
5. Now open your Microsoft Authenticator App
6. Click the 3 horizontal dots on the top right and select “+ Add Account”
7. Select “Other Account (Google, Facebook, etc.)
8. Scan the code on the screen or enter the code manually
Steam:
With the CoD being added back to Steam, thought I would add this section.
1. Bottom right corner of your screen you will see a small up arrow. Clicking this you will see your steam icon. Right click it and click on settings.
2. It should open on Account.
3. On the right you will see “Manage steam guard account security”, click that.
4. Follow the steps to add Steam guard to your account
5. You will need to download the app to your phone
6. Additional links to help you: [Steam Support :: Steam Guard: How to set up a Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator (steampowered.com)](https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6891-E071-C9D9-0134) and [Steam Support :: Steam Guard (steampowered.com)](https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/06B0-26E6-2CF8-254C#:~:text=While%20logged%20into%20the%20Steam,under%20the%20%22Account%22%20tab.)
I dont own a console, but here are the direct links for Xbox and PlayStation:
Xbox – [Turn off two-step verification | Xbox Support](https://support.xbox.com/en-NZ/help/account-profile/signin-security/turn-off-two-step-verification)
PlayStation – [How to set up 2-step verification on PlayStation Network](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/account/2sv-psn-login/)
I highly recommend you add Two Factor Authentication to any online service that you are using, especially your email.
Hope this helps.
[(1) Hackers Take EVERYTHING From Streamer (Dellor) – YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I6WDlpikHw) \- Old vid, but still gold and illustrates the importance of securing ALL your accounts.
Perfect example of how bad it can get.
Some good password advice:
1. Your main email address password should be completely different to any other password you have used.
2. Consider using a password management system. Edge password manager has gotten really good and easy to setup. [Save or forget passwords in Microsoft Edge – Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/save-or-forget-passwords-in-microsoft-edge-b4beecb0-f2a8-1ca0-f26f-9ec247a3f336)
3. If you do use a password management system, don’t store your email password in the password management system
4. Enable 2FA on EVERYTHING that has the option
5. Make your password complex. Add multiple random words together and replace letters with characters and add random characters
Another thing you can do is sign up to the site [Have I Been Pwned: Check if your email has been compromised in a data breach](https://haveibeenpwned.com/). Basically, if a website was hacked and passwords were leaked online, this site will let you know if your email was leaked. More often than not, people use the same password across all their sites making it is easy for a hacker to pivot between your accounts.
Stay safe and see you in the lobbies!