What is Duo Mobile? Is it safe to use Duo Mobile?

Google and Apple adopted two-factor authentication in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Other tech giants soon followed. Today, all kinds of platforms and applications use two-factor authentication, from online banking to e-commerce sites.

Authenticator apps add another layer of security as an easy and convenient way to confirm a person's identity. Duo Mobile is one of the most popular apps of its kind, but is it safe?

What is Duo Mobile? How does this application work?

Duo Mobile is developed by Cisco Systems, an American technology corporation specializing in network security.

Duo Mobile is available on both iOS and Android, working on the same basic principles as Google Authenticator and similar apps. In short, you get a notification on your phone when you (or someone else) tries to log into your account, and then approve or decline the login request. This helps prevent unauthorized logins and virtually prevents malicious actors from accessing your account.

Download Duo Mobile for Android Download Duo Mobile for iOS

The app itself is very intuitive and easy to use, so it shouldn't take more than a few minutes to connect the accounts and set everything up. More importantly, the interface is simple and only one tap is enough to approve or deny a request.

Is Duo Mobile secure and safe to use?

Ease of use is important, but it doesn't matter if an app isn't secure. Fortunately, as a flagship product from Cisco Secure, Duo Mobile meets most criteria when it comes to security and privacy. First, there has not been a reported breach, which proves that Cisco takes the protection of user data very seriously. But many other companies don't, so Duo Mobile offers extra security, whether you plan to use it to verify your social media logins or prevent unauthorized access to a bank account.

The Duo Restore feature is something other similar apps lack. It backs up your device and connected accounts (to iCloud or Google Drive), making it easy to maintain access to them at all times, whether you need to restore accounts on your current device or not. Connect to the new device. This way, getting a new phone won't lock you out of any third-party platforms or compromise your security.

What is Duo Mobile? Is it safe to use Duo Mobile? Picture 1

Duo Mobile can't access your contacts, text messages, or photos, but the app requires some permissions, according to the app's privacy policy. For example, it will send push notifications, but this is necessary if you want to be alerted when someone is trying to log into your account. With that said, you can always turn this off.

Similarly, you can also turn off camera access, but camera access is required to scan QR codes - and you need to scan them to set up two-factor verification on some platforms.

Duo Mobile does not sell or share user data with third parties, but it does collect usage data. This can also be disabled in the settings. In addition, the application collects some basic information about your device, such as the type and version of the operating system.

It should also be pointed out that Duo Mobile's privacy policy is very concise and very easy to understand, which is certainly commendable.

Duo Mobile vs other Authenticator apps?

Two-factor authentication was a game changer when it became widely available, because it was a convenient and simple way to increase personal cybersecurity. The Authenticator app has made the whole process a lot easier, and Duo Mobile is definitely one of the best authenticators out there. But if you don't like Duo Mobile for some reason, there are plenty of good alternatives that work on both Android and iOS.

Lesley Montoya

Update 17 February 2023