Authy User: Two-Factor Authentication in Fryslân

Not long ago we got in touch with another Authy user, Remkus de Vries, to hear his digital security story. 

AUTHY: Hi Remkus. How’s your day going?

My working days consist of my sitting behind my computer all day. I’m not sure what the percentages are of people having similar work scenarios, but I’m guessing they’re pretty high. I like being active during the day, but it’s hard to be active when you’re just sitting in your chair all day.

AUTHY: That seems to be the way of the world lately. 

Yes. So I try to stay active. That’s why  I’m an aspiring #fitdad and lifter of heavy weights. But first and foremost, I am a family man and a father to three kids. We live in the province of Fryslân, the Netherlands

AUTHY: Tell us more about your work.

I work as Manager of Partnerships at Yoast. Our mission is “SEO for Everyone.” Our products are WordPress plugins and online SEO courses. My job is to make sure that our product works perfectly with the various other WordPress products ranging from hosting to various other WordPress plugins. One of my extra roles is WordPress Community Liaison and as such I get to organize and travel to WordPress events, called WordCamps, quite frequently. The Yoast team is a team of about 100 people and the vast majority work locally, but I’m one of the exceptions to that rule. I work remotely about 200km away from Yoast HQ in Wijchen, the Netherlands.

AUTHY: So you use your own laptop and computers to work from home?

No actually. Yoast provides devices.

AUTHY: Got it. Can you also tell us about your digital life outside of work? 

Sure: One of my life goals is to get as close as possible to being a Uomo Universale Wannabe™ and as such I read a lot of books about a wide array of topics. I don’t have a list of sites I frequent a lot, but learning more about strength training, reading up on Formula 1, and looking for what next vegan dish I’ll devour are frequent topics I search for in DuckDuckGo.

AUTHY: OK. So far you’re revealing a lot of remote working, tons of work in and around the WordPress platform, and a pretty robust personal life of surfing around for self-enlightenment and recipes! That’s a lot of online activity you need to protect.

I’ve always been keenly aware of how to improve my online security and as such activated 2FA as soon as I learned more about it and a service I used made it available. I started, like most, I would guess, with Google Authenticator, but once I learned I had to reactivate all my 2FA connections when I got a new iPhone I started wondering if there perhaps was a smarter way of handling this. Authy was the answer.

AUTHY: Is that a recent switch?

Not recent. Can’t say for sure when it happened, but I’m guessing about 5 years ago now. I use the iOS app for a single device. Right now it’s the only two-factor authentication app I use. 

AUTHY: So if it’s the only 2FA you’re using, how many accounts are you securing with Authy. 

Haven’t counted but it’s a lot. I really like the ease of finding and copying the 2FA code and the upgrade path for when you’re switching to a new phone.

AUTHY: Thanks Remkus. We appreciate your support and we’re happy to help you stay secure online. 

All family members use it as well and I recommend it everywhere I see someone asking for a solution to manage 2FA

AUTHY: That’s great to hear. Thanks again!