SMS goes beyond just being a great marketing tool.

It also allows consumers and businesses to enjoy greater peace of mind when it comes to security. With both sensitive personal and business data constantly under threat from hackers, it’s important that businesses offer a secure means of protection.

Importantly, SMS has grown to fill this role—providing the tool necessary to keep consumer data safe. Through the use of SMS, businesses can help make sure that their customer data is protected.

By using SMS in your own business, you can better secure your consumers’ data, while also establishing a better record for your brand. This win-win situation reflects why you should start using SMS for security—if you haven’t already.

Below, we’ll explore the different ways that SMS impacts security, looking at the processes of 2-factor authentication and OTP in particular.

What is 2-factor Authentication?

2-factor authentication offers a leg up on traditional online security measures, as users are required to provide two pieces of information in order to enter an account.

For instance, they may need a password, as well as a text code.

Here, you can see how SMS comes into play. Through the use of 2-Factor authentication, businesses can help make sure that consumer information is protected.

With 2-factor authentication, businesses can also help ensure that a user’s account will not be compromised. Under traditional settings, if a hacker managed to secure the username and password of an online user, they would then be able to hack into their account.

However, with 2-factor authentication, this is becoming much more difficult. Instead of just needing a user’s information, they would also need a code texted to the user’s phone.

Presumably, this phone will be on the user—and not on the hacker. This means they would be unable to access the code needed to enter the user’s account. In this way, SMS has become a vehicle for protecting consumer data at some of the world’s most secure institutions. Banks, for instance, use 2-factor authentication on their websites and mobile apps. You may even come across this on other sites when attempting to change sensitive user information—such as a password.

In this way, SMS has worked to provide security to millions of Internet users across the globe. However, the role of SMS in cybersecurity does not stop at 2-factor authentication. It also plays a significant role in OTP.

What Is OTP?

One-time passwords, also known as OTP, provide high-level security. These passwords are generally codes that can be submitted, allowing users to log in one time into a specific site or software.

These generated passcodes ensure that no unauthorized users have access to restricted content. These codes typically get delivered to the phones of authorized users, making them unavailable to anyone else.

This can help protect businesses and the sensitive information they have stored. By utilizing OTP within your own organization, you can better protect your company’s private information—and that of your customers.