How Do I Bind a Virtual MFA Device?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of protection on top of your username and password. After MFA authentication is enabled, you need to enter verification codes after your username and password are authenticated. MFA, together with your username and password, ensures the security of your account and resources.

MFA devices can be based on hardware or software. However, IAM supports only virtual MFA devices.

A virtual MFA device is an application that generates 6-digit codes in compliance with the Time-Based One-Time Password Algorithm (TOTP). MFA applications can run on mobile devices (including smartphones) and are easy to use.

Prerequisites

You have installed an MFA application (for example, Google Authenticator) on your mobile phone.

Procedure

Huawei Cloud account or IAM user

On the management console, hover over the username in the upper right corner, and choose Security Settings from the drop-down list.
On the Critical Operations tab, click Bind in the Virtual MFA Device row.

Figure 1 Binding a virtual MFA device
On the displayed page, enter a device name. Only letters, digits, hyphens (-), and underscores (_) are allowed.
Select an MFA device. For this example, select Virtual MFA Device and click Next.
Add a virtual MFA device to your MFA application.
Add a virtual MFA device by scanning the QR code or entering the secret key.
- Scan the QR code
  Open the MFA application on your mobile phone, and use the application to scan the QR code displayed on the Add MFA Device page. Then, the MFA application automatically adds the virtual MFA device.
- Enter the secret key
  Open the MFA application on your mobile phone, and enter the secret key.
  
  TOTP-based virtual MFA devices can only be manually added. You are advised to enable automatic time setting on your mobile device.
View the dynamic verification codes on the home page of the MFA application. The codes are updated every 30 seconds.
On the Bind Virtual MFA Device page, enter two consecutive verification codes and click OK.

HUAWEI ID

On the management console, hover over the username in the upper right corner, and choose Security Settings from the drop-down list.
On the Critical Operations tab, click Bind in the Virtual MFA Device row.

Figure 2 Binding a virtual MFA device
On the HUAWEI ID website, choose Account & security, and bind a virtual MFA device in the Security verification area.