NordPass password manager launches its own 2FA authenticator

Popular password manager NordPass is now offering an authenticator within its mobile app to allow for two-factor authentication (2FA) without any third party services required. 

Available to users with NordPass business accounts, the tool will use its patented technology to integrate its authenticator within its mobile app, so you can authenticate any login credentials stored in your vault that require 2FA. 

Like most authenticator apps, the built-in NordPass authenticator will generate a time-based one-time password (TOPT) that you have to input within 30 seconds of entering your login details in the service in question. You can use your saved biometric data to access your authenticator with ease. 

Added convenience

2FA or multi-factor authentication (MFA) relies on one of your secondary devices – typically your smartphone – to authenticate a login to a certain service. This way, it ensures that others cannot access your account with your username and password alone. 

Most reputable services give you the option to enable 2FA to secure your account further. SMS text messages are a common way of delivering your authentication passcodes, but these are considered less secure due to the relative ease with which threat actors can intercept your messages via Sim swapping tactics. 

Authenticator apps are generally safer, as these cannot be hacked so easily. However, the issue with these is the added inconvenience of needing to download a separate app.

And while they are safer for 2FA than using SMS texts, NordPass points out that they still have their flaws. 

Karolis Arbaciauskas, head of business development at NordPass, commented that whatever method of delivering 2FA that you use, “it has become increasingly popular to annoy internet users with many 2FA requests until they approve authentication out of confusion,” in what are known as MFA fatigue attacks.

Now NordPass hopes to remedy that with its own integrated authenticator. Although this is currently only on mobile apps for now, the company says that it will be coming to desktop versions soon.

The news follows hot on the heels of another recent feature update to the password manager: that is NordPass Passkeys, which allows both business and individual users to store, autofill and share passkeys on their vaults. 

Passkeys allow for passwordless entry to certain accounts – eBay and PayPal, for instance, both support them already – and are thought to be more secure than passwords and look set to replace them in the near future. 

• NordPass is also featured in our list of the best business password managers