PlayStation Network Gets Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication has arrived for PlayStation Network users, four months after Sony confirmed it was working on offering the secure sign-in method.

Once they activate the feature on the PlayStation website, users will receive a verification code via a text message delivered to a mobile phone when they attempt to log in to their PSN accounts.

Some eagle-eyed users spotted a reference to two-factor authentication in April's PlayStation 3 firmware update (version 4.80). Sony said it was preparing to offer the feature "in order to further safeguard our users and their accounts."

Two-factor authentication is widely offered as a method to increase the security of online account logins. Microsoft rolled out the option to add two-factor authentication across its services three years ago, including Xbox Live, which requires an app-generated password.

But a recent survey suggested that even though a majority of people in the US are concerned about the types of unauthorized logins that two-factor authorization is designed to prevent, they still don't use it.

The PlayStation Network itself has been a hacking target in the past, including a massive breach in 2011 that compromised millions of accounts and left the service offline for nearly a month.

:story: PC Magazine