[josephg]

> 2FA is "something you have" (or ".. you are", for biometrics): it is supposed to prove that you currently physically posses the single copy of a token. The textbook example is a TOTP stored in a Yubikey.

No, 2FA means authentication using 2 factors of the following 3 factors:

- What you know (eg password)

- What you have (eg physical token)

- What you are (eg biometrics)

You can "be the 2FA" without a token by combining a password (what you know) and biometrics (what you are). Eg, fingerprint reader + password, where you need both to login.

[crote]

Of course, but in most applications the use of a password is a given, so in day-to-day use "2FA" had come to mean "the other auth method, besides your password".

Combine that with the practical problems with biometrics when trying to auth to a remote system, and in practice that second factor is more often than not "something you have". And biometrics is usually more of a three-factor system, with the device you enrolled your fingerprints on being an essential part of the equation.

[moralestapia]

This.

GP ignores the conventions of the field.