Two factor authentication for your social security account

Social Security has a web site where you can review all your social security taxable income, your medicare taxable income, your social security personal details, and all your benefits, month by month.  That's just to name a few kinds of information that are there.  I've talked about two factor authentication in several blogs.  It is a security feature that is a pain in the neck.  If you use this feature, you have to sign on with your user id and password and then, if you use a device that the web site doesn't recognize, or "just because" you will have to enter some code that is sent by text or sent to your email address.  This is before you are able to "log in" to the site.  Although a pain, I hope you can see that it protects against someone else using your user id and password to access your social security information.  Below is an announcement of an improvement of the social security web site two factor authentication process:  the ability to get the two factor code on email.  To date, you could only get the two factor code by text message.   

On June 10, 2017, we will add a second method to check your identification when you sign in to mySocial Security. This is in addition to the first layer of security, your username and password. Right now, you don’t have to do anything for this new process. But you may want to sign in to your account

 to make sure you remember your username and password. Then, when you sign in on or after June 10, you will be able to choose either your cell phone or your email address as your second identification method. Using two ways to identify you when you log on will help better protect your account from unauthorized use and potential identity fraud.