Microsoft Acquires PhoneFactor To Keep Hackers From Destroying Your Life
Microsoft wants to make sure that its customers don't suffer the fate of Wired's Mat Honan.
Today they acquired a tiny 50-person company, PhoneFactor, that turns your cell phone into a password-verification device for an undisclosed sum.
Hackers nearly destroyed Honan's digital life two months ago. On the hunt for a Twitter password, they got into his Amazon account, which helped them gain access to his Apple and Google accounts. They remotely erased all his data, even on his iPhone and Mac. Honan admitted, "Had I used two-factor authentication for my Google account, it’s possible that none of this would have happened."
