TSP Says Two Factor Authentication Becoming Mandatory Next Month

The TSP is making two factor authentication mandatory for plan participation to access their accounts starting in December.

The Thrift Savings Plan is reminding participants that two-step authentication is becoming mandatory in December to log into their TSP accounts.

Two-factor authentication is a security process in which users provide two different authentication factors to verify themselves to better protect both the user’s credentials and the resources the user can access. In this case, it will be a one-time verification code sent via email or to your phone.

Although it is more secure, the two-step process can be a bit of a pain. That is the tradeoff though – more security sometimes equates to more hassles, but if it helps keep your account secure, it’s probably worth the extra effort in the end.

The TSP is recommending that anybody who has not yet set up two-factor authentication to go ahead and do so now to avoid any interruptions to account access.

The TSP posted the following announcement on its website today:

All TSP participants must have validated contact information and use two-step authentication to log into My Account beginning December 2019. You can avoid interruption to your account access by adding these security features in your My Account Profile Settings now. 

Two-step authentication helps protect your account against fraud. This login process is more secure because it means that online access to your account requires something you know (your account number or username and password) and something you have (the one-time code you receive in your email or on your phone). Someone who tries to log into your account fraudulently won’t be able to gain access without the code.

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.