Steam Authenticator - What if I lose my phone?

[AWOOGA]

Ok, lets say I break my phone into a thousand pieces or it gets stolen and I have to wipe it with find my phone - how will I play video games without the authenticator code?

Also, if this isn't the right place to post this question, I'm sorry. If this is the case please direct me to the appropriate forum.

[SpunkyJones]

You'll have a recovery code that you should have copied down when you set it up.

[AWOOGA]

This seems like an imperfect solution.

For example, what if my lap top is stolen with my phone? In this case I'm not sure what I would do about all my personal data being at risk but nontheless when I got a new computer I'm pretty sure the first thing I'd do after installing all pertinent software is fire up TF2 or some other such staple of my time wasting.

Currently I only have the recovery code saved on my computer. In the case that all of these things fail I've still got my phone number of course, but I also renew that every 2 years.

I just feel like its not so far removed from the imagination that there may be quite a few non-hacker related scenarios in which I'm totally screwed out of my account.

[cl]

Had almost same problem in steam support.
They said "You can ask your operator for a another phone with same numbers"
If you lose your recovery code and want to go back to e-mail, contact steam support.

[maa5OO//]

lol

[Siriondil]

Steam Autheticator is bad, you can use an android emulator to do this.

[Tev]

Originally posted by Rush Limbaugh:

This seems like an imperfect solution.

For example, what if my lap top is stolen with my phone? In this case I'm not sure what I would do about all my personal data being at risk but nontheless when I got a new computer I'm pretty sure the first thing I'd do after installing all pertinent software is fire up TF2 or some other such staple of my time wasting.

Currently I only have the recovery code saved on my computer. In the case that all of these things fail I've still got my phone number of course, but I also renew that every 2 years.

Why would you store your recovery code on your computer to begin with? One of the main reasons the whole security exists is due to the fact people get their computers compromised.

If you got your computer compromised, you'd get your recovery code compromised, people could easily use that R-code to remove your authenticator and then you'd have lost your account again.

So, R-code aside, there's also your phone number that you can recover your Steam -account with. Lose your phone? Contact your carrier and ask for a new SIM card with the old number.

Originally posted by Tentacle-sensei:

Steam Autheticator is bad, you can use an android emulator to do this.

How exactly is software a better option than hardware securitywise? Especially given the reasons the authenticator exists to begin with?

When people bypass this, the likelyhood only increases they'll shut down trading altogether.

[ KARR™]

You can also print out and keep dozens of backup one time use only codes so you can still log in if it comes down to needing to contact the support desk if you have no other ways of connecting.

If someone steals your phone, they can't log in as your password and username aren't known to them. You would just use your recovery code to remove it or contact support to do the same.

[nerd nuts]

Originally posted by AWOOGA:

Ok, lets say I break my phone into a thousand pieces or it gets stolen and I have to wipe it with find my phone - how will I play video games without the authenticator code?

Also, if this isn't the right place to post this question, I'm sorry. If this is the case please direct me to the appropriate forum.

You can store it on Google Docs, making it possible to access anywhere that you have internet.