Two-Factor authentication to DestinE Platform using mobile application

This article is about using mobile devices to authenticate to the cloud. If you want to use your computer for that, see Two-Factor authentication to DestinE Platform using KeePassXC on desktop.

We can use “mobile authenticator” as a generic term for a mobile app that can help authenticate with the account.

FreeOTP vs. Google Authenticator vs. Microsoft Authenticator

Comparison of FreeOTP, Google Authenticator, and Microsoft Authenticator

Feature	FreeOTP	Google Authenticator	Microsoft Authenticator
Developer	Red Hat	Google	Microsoft
Cost	Free	Free	Free
Open Source	Yes	No	No
2FA Method	TOTP, HOTP	TOTP	TOTP, Push Notifications, Passwordless
Cloud Backup	No	No	Yes (encrypted backup to the cloud)
Push Notifications	No	No	Yes (for Microsoft accounts and other supported apps)
Account Transfer	Manual (QR code export only)	QR code export for easy transfers	Seamless transfer through cloud backup
Customization	Limited	Limited	Custom icons, rich account naming
Integration	Broad support for TOTP/HOTP	Broad support for TOTP	Best with Microsoft ecosystem; supports TOTP
Security	High (offline, open-source)	High (offline)	High (supports biometric locks)
Biometric Lock	No	No	Yes
Multiple Device Sync	No	No	Yes (via cloud backup)
Usability	Simple, minimalistic	Simple, widely used	User-friendly, feature-rich

You can use FreeOTP with Google accounts instead of Google Authenticator app.

If you already use Google Authenticator app for other accounts, you may prefer it over FreeOTP.

Issues with mobile authenticator apps

What happens when your mobile device stops working and you lose access to important sites? Or, when you want to switch to a new device – do you have to reinstall everything manually? Here are the biggest issues each of these apps has:

FreeOTP

No backup or sync capabilities. No recovery options.

If you lose or switch devices, recovering accounts with FreeOTP is a manual and cumbersome process. You must have backup codes or reconfigure 2FA for each account individually, and if you have many accounts, you will have to do it manually.

Google Authenticator

No cloud backup. Limited recovery options.

If your accounts are protected by Google Authenticator and it stops working, then you risk losing all of the data that were behind those protected accounts. The most common scenario is to switch to a new phone number and then not be able to verify the accounts via a text message to the previous phone number.

Microsoft Authenticator

Best suited for the Microsoft ecosystem. Over-reliance on Microsoft services for full functionality.

It does support TOTP for non-Microsoft accounts, however, its best features, like push notifications and seamless passwordless authentication, work only for Microsoft accounts.

In this tutorial, you are going to use the FreeOTP app.

Warning

If you lose access to QR codes and cannot log into the Horizon site for Destination Earth, ask Support service to help you by sending email. To contact, go to page https://platform.destine.eu/support/, scroll to the bottom and click on button Contact us.

What We Are Going To Cover

• How to start using mobile authenticator

• How to locate, download and install FreeOTP app on your mobile device

• How to set up FreeOTP app and connect it to your Destination Earth account

• How to get new code each time you want to enter the site

Prerequisites

No. 1 Account

You need a Destination Earth account. See How to create a DestinE Platform account

See Managing an existing account on DestinE Platform to get to the option Set up Authenticator application.

No. 2 Authenticator application installed on your phone

You need to have an authenticator app installed on your phone.

Platform availability for FreeOTP, Google Authenticator, and Microsoft Authenticator

Developer	FreeOTP	Google Authenticator	Microsoft Authenticator
Platforms	iOS, Android, F-Droid	iOS, Android	iOS, Android

Download and Install FreeOTP

Follow the rules of your mobile device operating system and install FreeOTP in the usual manner.

Go to link https://platform.destine.eu/support/. Set up two-factor authentication by navigating to your Personal info page and clicking on option Set up Authenticator application:

Re-authenticate into your account, as usual, and get the following form:

Before doing anything else, enter the name of the device into field Device Name. It is best to enter that first because you will have 30 seconds and less to enter the TOTP code into field One-time code and click on Submit.

Your next step depends on what you want to achieve.

Option 1 Scan QR code

Scan the QR code and set the mobile app to general TOTP code in an easy way. The downside is that you lose the ability to learn the secret code that is stored in QR image and you will not be able to automate the process by using some kind of code in Bash on Linux, in Python and so on.

Option 2 Learn the secret code

Click on Unable to scan? and have access to the secret code, however, then you will have to manually enter the parameters into FreeOTP app. The advantage is that you will be able to automate entry of 2FA code, which is very useful when trying to automate procedures and access to the site, programmatically.

We are now going to describe the process for Option 1.

Option 1 Scan QR and Create Brand

In FreeOTP, tap on plus button in the lower right corner and two additional icons will appear:

• pen icon, to enter the data with Option 2

• QR code icon, to scan and enter the data automatically.

Tap on QR code icon and bring the device in front of the QR code. A new row in list of TOTP codes will appear immediately, it will be called DestinE Platform and will also show your user name in the lower row. The process is complete.

Now tap on that row and it show a six digit code, which you have to enter into field One-time code and click Submit.

Note

Each time you click on submit or refresh the screen, you need to scan the QR code again!

You are now ready to log into the Destination Earth site using the two-factor authentication.

How to Start Using the Mobile Authenticator With Your Account

To test the 2FA procedure, log out of the account and sign in to it again.

Use the usual link https://platform.destine.eu/support/ to log into your DestinE Platform account. You will need to enter the credentials first:

In the next step, you will be invited to enter the six-digit TOTP number that you get by tapping the appropriate row on FreeOTP app:

Tap on DestinE Platform row in FreeOTP and a six digit number will be shown.

Retype it to the form on screen and click Sign In.

You’ll be back to the usual profile screen, with the addition of one row at the bottom. In it, if you click button Delete, this question will appear:

and if you Confirm deletion, you will be back to simpler sign in, without providing two-factor data.

Option 2 Entering secret code into FreeOTP

This time, we want to capture the secret code and put it into the mobile app manually. Although cumbersome, this procedure will open up new possibilities later on, especially if you want to automate access to the cloud and remote data.

Click on Unable to scan? in form Mobile Authenticator Setup and you will see the secret code for 2FA access:

Just as was the case with QR code, each time the page is refreshed, a new secret code will appear, forcing you to renter data, so pay attention!

You have to enter all of the data that are shown:

key

Also known as token, on this image it is ccccc

Type

Time-based

Algorithm

SHA1

Digits

6

Interval

30

To enter those data into FreeOTP, tap on icon plus and another two icons will show up. One is for scanning QR codes and the other is an icon of pen, to enter the data as digits and characters.

Tap on pen icon and enter the data on the next screen:

Instead of jdoe@example.com, enter you own email address.

Instead of Example Inc, enter the name of the site to which you are applying. For Destination-Earth-Platform, enter DestinE Platform or anything else that will remind you of the site you are working with.

The most difficult part is entering the Secret, into which you have to enter the key (token in FreeOTP parlance) from the site. Now, you can do it manually, painstakingly enter 32 upper-case letters. Or, you can copy the secret from the screen, put it into some kind of a messenger app that you have both on the computer and on the phone and send it to you. Or, you can use just email… the choice is yours.

For other fields, select TOTP instead of HOTP, for Digits you want 6 which is the default, and for Algorithm, you want SHA1:

When all is entered, this is the last screen before clicking on ADD TOKEN.

Here is the new entry (one row) in FreeOTP:

This is the result: one row in FreeOTP app and when you click on that row, you get a six-digit code to be entered as TOTP:

If the time has passed, just tap on it again, another six-digit code will show up, copy that to the authenticator form and eventually, you will get to the profile screen, with the authenticator app active:

What To Do Next

You can also use a desktop app instead of mobile. Learn more here: Two-Factor authentication to DestinE Platform using KeePassXC on desktop