Overview
This article provides an overview of two-factor authentication (2FA) in the CrashPlan console. Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to your CrashPlan environment by requiring users to provide a secondary verification code in addition to their standard username and password.
If you are looking for specific instructions on how to configure or reset two-factor authentication, please see the Managing Two-Factor Authentication section below.
Supported authentication methods
CrashPlan supports two methods for secondary verification:
- Authenticator Application (Recommended): Users can generate a time-based one-time password (TOTP) using a third-party mobile app or browser extension, such as Google Authenticator.
- Email Verification: Users receive a temporary verification code sent to the email address associated with their CrashPlan account.
Affected users and authentication types
The two-factor authentication settings within the CrashPlan console only apply to locally authenticated users.
If your organization utilizes a Single Sign-On (SSO) identity provider (such as Okta or Microsoft Entra ID), CrashPlan delegates all authentication requests to that provider. Therefore, any two-factor or multi-factor authentication requirements must be configured directly within your SSO provider.
Note for mixed environments
If your organization uses SSO but has configured specific users as local authentication exceptions, those specific users will be subject to CrashPlan's local two-factor authentication requirements.
Considerations for the CrashPlan API
If you use scripts or integrations that authenticate with the CrashPlan API using standard basic authentication, enabling two-factor authentication for the user account associated with those scripts will cause them to fail. To ensure your automated scripts and integrations continue to function, they must be updated to use a token authentication method.
Managing two-factor authentication
Depending on your role and what you are trying to accomplish, select one of the following articles for step-by-step instructions:
For end users
For administrators
Administrators looking to reset a user's 2FA configuration can also find those steps in Resetting or changing your two-factor authentication.