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Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication adds a second layer of security beyond your password, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access.

Why Enable 2FA?​

Even with a strong password, your account can be compromised through:

  • Password reuse from other breached sites
  • Phishing attacks
  • Keyloggers or malware
  • Shoulder surfing

With 2FA enabled, attackers need both your password AND physical access to your authenticator device.

Supported Methods​

TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password)​

Sealmetrics uses TOTP, the industry standard for 2FA:

  • 6-digit codes that change every 30 seconds
  • Works offline (no SMS needed)
  • Compatible with all major authenticator apps

Compatible Apps​

AppPlatformNotes
Google AuthenticatoriOS, AndroidSimple, widely used
AuthyiOS, Android, DesktopCloud backup, multi-device
1PasswordAll platformsIntegrated with password manager
Microsoft AuthenticatoriOS, AndroidGood for Microsoft ecosystems
BitwardenAll platformsOpen source

Enabling 2FA​

Step 1: Access Security Settings​

  1. Click your profile icon in the top right
  2. Select Settings → Security
  3. Find Two-Factor Authentication

Step 2: Start Setup​

Two-Factor Authentication
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Status: Not enabled

Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer
of security by requiring a code from your
phone in addition to your password.

[Enable 2FA]

Step 3: Scan QR Code​

Set Up Two-Factor Authentication
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Step 1: Scan this QR code with your authenticator app

    ┌─────────────────────┐
    │  ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄   │
    │  █   █ ▀▀▀ █   █   │
    │  █▄▄▄█ ▄▄▄ █▄▄▄█   │
    │  ▄▄▄▄▄ █▀█ ▄▄▄▄▄   │
    │  █   █ ▀▀▀ █   █   │
    │  █▄▄▄█     █▄▄▄█   │
    └─────────────────────┘

Can't scan? Enter this code manually:
XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX (your unique secret)

Step 2: Enter the 6-digit code from your app

[______]

[Verify and Enable]

Step 4: Save Backup Codes​

Save Your Backup Codes
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Save these codes somewhere safe!

If you lose access to your authenticator app,
you can use these backup codes to sign in.
Each code can only be used once.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  abc12-def34                            │
│  ghi56-jkl78                            │
│  mno90-pqr12                            │
│  stu34-vwx56                            │
│  yza78-bcd90                            │
│  efg12-hij34                            │
│  klm56-nop78                            │
│  qrs90-tuv12                            │
│  wxy34-zab56                            │
│  cde78-fgh90                            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

[Download Codes] [Copy to Clipboard]

☑ I have saved my backup codes

[Complete Setup]

Step 5: Confirm Enabled​

Two-Factor Authentication
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Status: ✅ Enabled

Enabled on: January 15, 2024
Last used: Never

Backup codes remaining: 10 of 10

[View Backup Codes] [Disable 2FA]

Signing In with 2FA​

After entering your email and password:

Two-Factor Authentication
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app

[______]

[Verify]

Having trouble?
→ Use a backup code instead

Using Backup Codes​

If you can't access your authenticator:

  1. Click Use a backup code instead
  2. Enter one of your saved backup codes
  3. Sign in successfully
  4. Code is marked as used
Use Backup Code
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Enter one of your backup codes:

[____________]

[Verify]

Note: Each backup code can only be used once.
After signing in, generate new codes if running low.

Managing 2FA​

View Backup Codes​

See remaining codes:

Backup Codes
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Remaining: 8 of 10 codes

Used codes:
  • abc12-def34 (used Jan 10)
  • ghi56-jkl78 (used Jan 12)

[Regenerate All Codes]

Warning: Regenerating will invalidate all
existing codes, including unused ones.

Regenerate Codes​

When running low on backup codes:

  1. Go to Settings → Security → 2FA
  2. Click Regenerate All Codes
  3. Enter your current 2FA code to confirm
  4. Save new codes securely

Change Authenticator App​

To switch to a different authenticator:

  1. Disable 2FA (requires current code)
  2. Re-enable with new app
  3. Scan new QR code
  4. Save new backup codes

Disable 2FA​

Disable Two-Factor Authentication
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚠️ This will make your account less secure.

Enter your current 2FA code to confirm:

[______]

[Disable 2FA]

Lost Access to Authenticator​

If You Have Backup Codes​

  1. Sign in with backup code
  2. Go to Settings → Security
  3. Disable 2FA
  4. Re-enable with new device

If You Don't Have Backup Codes​

Contact support for account recovery:

  1. Email security@sealmetrics.com
  2. Provide:
    • Account email
    • Proof of identity (ID document)
    • Recent activity details you remember
  3. Support will verify and assist
warning

Account recovery without backup codes takes 2-5 business days for security verification.

2FA for Teams​

Requiring 2FA (Growth Plan)​

Admins can enforce 2FA for all team members:

Security Policy
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

☑ Require 2FA for all users

Users without 2FA:
  • mike@company.com (invited to set up)
  • guest@agency.com (invited to set up)

Grace period: [7] days

After grace period, users without 2FA
will be unable to access the account.

Monitoring 2FA Adoption​

Team Security Status
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

2FA Enabled: 4 of 5 users (80%)

User                    2FA Status    Last Login
─────────────────────────────────────────────────
admin@company.com       ✅ Enabled    Today
sarah@company.com       ✅ Enabled    Today
mike@company.com        ⚠️ Pending    Yesterday
john@company.com        ✅ Enabled    3 days ago
guest@agency.com        ❌ Not set    1 week ago

Security Best Practices​

Do​

  • ✅ Use a reputable authenticator app
  • ✅ Save backup codes in a secure location (password manager, safe)
  • ✅ Keep backup codes separate from your password
  • ✅ Regenerate codes after using some

Don't​

  • ❌ Store backup codes in plaintext on your computer
  • ❌ Share your authenticator with others
  • ❌ Screenshot your QR code
  • ❌ Disable 2FA without good reason

Troubleshooting​

"Invalid Code" Error​

  1. Check your device time is accurate (TOTP is time-based)
  2. Ensure you're entering code for Sealmetrics (not another service)
  3. Wait for new code (codes change every 30 seconds)
  4. Try using a backup code

Authenticator Shows Wrong Time​

TOTP requires accurate time:

iPhone: Settings → General → Date & Time → Set Automatically

Android: Settings → Date & Time → Automatic date & time

Syncing Issues with Authy​

  1. Open Authy settings
  2. Tap "Sync" to refresh
  3. Try code again