{"id":46749,"date":"2019-03-21T14:46:49","date_gmt":"2019-03-21T14:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/?p=46749"},"modified":"2020-08-17T14:53:28","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T14:53:28","slug":"how-to-use-two-factor-authentication-with-the-owncloud-desktop-client-or-mobile-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/blogs\/how-to-use-two-factor-authentication-with-the-owncloud-desktop-client-or-mobile-apps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Two-Factor Authentication With the ownCloud Desktop Client or Mobile Apps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

How to Use Two-Factor Authentication With the ownCloud Desktop Client or Mobile Apps<\/h1>\n
\n

With recent news of data breaches and cracked accounts, we\u2019re glad about ownCloud\u2019s focus on security. How you can benefit from it? Combine OAuth2 with Two-Factor Authentication to protect your account from hackers!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThe most recent data breach?\u201d, you may ask, \u201cwhat was it \u2013 oh, this article is from 2019, lol.\u201d<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s be honest, even if you read this article in 2021, there will always be a most recent data breach. The struggle for more secure IT infrastructure is an uphill battle, and it is hard to stay up-to-date.<\/p>\n

Our readers\u2019 feedback to my recent\u00a0article about password managers<\/a>\u00a0showed that there is a lot of interest in security. So this blogpost aims to help you leverage ownCloud\u2019s security features. One of those is Two-Factor Authentication.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Two-Factor Authentication: What\u2019s it About?<\/h2>\n

A second factor is very useful to protect your account against password theft. If your password gets cracked or found because you reused it in a powned service, a second authentication factor will protect you against hackers.<\/p>\n

With Two-Factor Authentication, you have a second factor that proves that you are you. It could be a hardware token or an app on your phone \u2013 this proves that you not only can memorize the password (the first factor), but also have your mobile phone with you (the second factor).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ownCloud<\/a><\/p>\n

There are many possible tokens for Two-Factor Authentication. You can even use your phone as second factor.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In practice: first you open your browser and login with your username and password. Then you get asked for your second factor, e.g. a TOTP app. You open the app on your phone, and a time-based one-time password (TOTP) shows. Finally, you enter it \u2013 and you\u2019re logged in.<\/p>\n

If an attacker wants to hack your account, they would have to do the same. So stealing your password isn\u2019t enough anymore \u2013 they also need to steal your phone. This is way harder, and your account is more secure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Setup Two-Factor Authentication for ownCloud \u2013 Step by Step<\/h2>\n

How to enable Two-Factor Authentication? You don\u2019t need special tech skills. You need ownCloud admin privileges \u2013 but you can also just ask your admin to install the necessary ownCloud Server Apps. Okay, let\u2019s get started:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Setup OAuth2 on the Server<\/h3>\n

You don\u2019t need OAuth2 to use Two-Factor Authentication in your browser \u2013 but if you want to use the Android app, the iOS app, or the Desktop client, you will need to\u00a0install OAuth2 on the ownCloud Server.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have admin privileges, contact your admin to do it. Show them this blogpost \u2013 it\u2019s only one click in the Market app. You need\u00a0this app<\/a>\u00a0to get OAuth2 working for all users.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ownCloud<\/a><\/p>\n

You can install the OAuth2 app to ownCloud in the Market app.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

OAuth2 has even more useful security features \u2013 it provides tokens for each single device. Your client doesn\u2019t need to know your password. And if your device gets stolen, you can disable the OAuth2 token in the web interface. This way, your data stays safe.<\/p>\n

You can\u00a0read this blogpost<\/a>\u00a0to learn about all its advantages and how it works in detail. Note that after the installation, all clients of all users will sooner or later have to reauthenticate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With OAuth2, an app is authorized by token exchanges in the background.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Setup Your Second Authentication Factor<\/h3>\n

There are three Server apps for Multi-Factor Authentication in ownCloud:\u00a0OpenOTP<\/a>,\u00a0PrivacyIDEA<\/a>, and\u00a0TOTP<\/a>. They all offer different advantages. For simplicity, we will look at the TOTP app in this article.<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0install the\u00a0TOTP app<\/a>\u00a0to the server, or ask your admin to do it. It\u2019s another one-click installation that doesn\u2019t require further configuration by the admin \u2013 but each user has to set it up for themselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ownCloud<\/a><\/p>\n

You can install the Two-Factor Authentication app to ownCloud in the Market app.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

To enable it for your account, you need a second factor. With the Open Source app\u00a0FreeOTP<\/a>\u00a0you can use your Android or iOS phone.\u00a0Install FreeOTP\u00a0via\u00a0GooglePlay<\/a>,\u00a0F-Droid<\/a>, or the\u00a0Apple Appstore<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now login to your ownCloud account in the browser. For the next steps, be careful that you\u00a0don\u2019t log out again\u00a0before you\u2019re sure that it works. You don\u2019t want to get locked out of your account accidentally, right?<\/p>\n

(if you got locked out of 2FA even though we warned you,\u00a0these instructions<\/a>\u00a0might help you.)<\/p>\n

To get started, go to Personal Security Settings. Click on the\u00a0\u201cActivate TOTP\u201d\u00a0checkbox \u2013 a QR code appears.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ownCloud<\/a><\/p>\n

Scan the QR code with FreeOTP to enable your phone as second factor.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Scan the QR Code\u00a0with the FreeOTP app. Then you can\u00a0generate an authentication code\u00a0with FreeOTP and enter it into the web interface. When you\u00a0click \u201cVerify\u201d, you enable Two-Factor Authentication for your account.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ownCloud<\/a><\/p>\n

Generate a one-time password with FreeOTP and verify it in the web interface.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Login to Your Account With the Android App<\/h3>\n

Now we can try out whether it works. Open the ownCloud Android app.\u00a0Add a new account, and enter the server URL:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ownCloud<\/a><\/p>\n

Add a new account and enter the server URL.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now a small browser opens. It shows the login page of the web interface, where you can\u00a0enter you username and password:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ownCloud<\/a><\/p>\n

Login with username and password, as you are used to. The second factor comes afterwards.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

After that, you are asked for a TOTP token:\u00a0generate a one-time password with FreeOTP\u00a0and enter it into the form. It should consist of six numbers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ownCloud<\/a><\/p>\n

Now you can generate a one-time password with the FreeOTP app and enter it into the web interface.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then\u00a0click on authorize\u00a0\u2013 an OAuth2 token is generated for your app. Your phone will be logged in permanently \u2013 or at least until you revoke the OAuth2 token.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ownCloud<\/a><\/p>\n

Click on \u201cAuthorize\u201d to grant access to your app.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Try it out!<\/h2>\n

Let me know if this guide works out for you, and give the other Two-Factor Authentication options a try.<\/p>\n

Especially\u00a0PrivacyIDEA<\/a>\u00a0is really versatile and useful for large organizations, it even offers Multi-Factor Authentication with more than two factors. I just didn\u2019t use it in the example because it requires an extra server.<\/p>\n

What do you think about these security features? Leave a comment below or share this post on social media!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With recent news of data breaches and cracked accounts, we\u2019re glad about ownCloud\u2019s focus on security. How you can benefit from it? Combine OAuth2 with Two-Factor Authentication to protect your account from hackers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":46750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/owncloud.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}