Two-factor authentication, or 2FA as it's commonly abbreviated, adds an extra step to your basic log-in procedure. Without 2FA, you enter in your username and password, and then you're done. The password is your single factor of authentication.
Polaris has developed true two-factor authentication across Webmail, SMTP, POP and IMAP. You login to your service by entering your e-mail address and password, with the 6 digit code provided by an app installed on your smartphone, appended to it. For example, when accessing WebMail or using your email client, if your regular password is: johndoe and the current code is 123456, enter: johndoe123456 in the password field, in order to authenticate.
What you need:
- a smartphone with the Google Authenticator app installed.
- after having installed Google Authenticator, also install the Barcode scanner which it recommends when accessing it.
How to get it working - Admin panel:
- Login to https://cp.emailarray.com/admin
- Edit the account in which you want to permit 2fa, by clicking on the edit icon (pencil) and choose Allowed in the Two Factor Auth pull-down menu.
If you want to permit 2fa for all of your user accounts, please contact us at support@polarismail.com informing the domain(s).
How to get it working - User panel:
- Now log to the user panel, at https://cp.emailarray.com using your regular e-mail address, the one which you allowed 2fa. Note that you can also access the user panel using the respective link in WebMail's Settings page.
- On the top menu, click on 2Factor Auth and set the Status pull-down menu to Enabled, then click on Save.
- You will see a pop-up informing the next steps, which involve scanning a QR Code using your phone's Barcode scanner, so we can deliver news codes constantly via the Google Authenticator app.
Once that's done and 2FA is enabled, you can set the duration for which the code is valid (timeout): from as short as 30 seconds to as long as 10 minutes. Notice that, if your IP doesn't change and you remain logged on, you do not need to reauthenticate. It's necessary only if you logout and logon again.
There's also a section where you can also add known IPs, so that you don't need 2factor authentication when logging in from your home, for example.
Remember that, next time you access the e-mail account where you setup 2fa, in the password field, you have to add your 6 digits code at the end of your password. This is also required for the user control panel.
We hope you enjoy this new feature which brings more security to your e-mail accounts.