If Your Phone Ever Gets A Verification Code At 3AM… DO NOT READ IT — Transcript

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1. 0:00If your phone ever gets a verification
2. 0:02code at 3:00 a.m. that you did not ask
3. 0:04for,
4. 0:05do not open the message, do not read the
5. 0:07numbers out loud, and do not [music]
6. 0:10look at your bedroom door.
7. 0:12You already read the first three digits.
8. 0:15There are seven rules. Most people break
9. 0:18the fifth.
10. 0:19The seventh explains what is trying to
11. 0:21log in.
12. 0:23Everyone has received the message.
13. 0:25Six digits.
14. 0:27Do not share this code with anyone.
15. 0:30When it arrives during the day, you
16. 0:32ignore it. You tell yourself a stranger
17. 0:34typed their phone number wrong by a
18. 0:36single digit.
19. 0:38Have you ever called the number that is
20. 0:39one digit away from yours?
21. 0:42Do not. Nobody has that number.
22. 0:45Tonight, the screen lit up at 3:14 in
23. 0:48the morning.
24. 0:49You did not request a code.
25. 0:51Something else did.
26. 0:53Rule one. Do not unlock the screen.
27. 0:57Leave the phone flat on the table.
28. 0:59On most phones, a locked screen only
29. 1:02says new message. It hides the numbers
30. 1:05until the front camera recognizes your
31. 1:06face.
32. 1:08It wants you to lean in.
33. 1:10In the dark, your phone projects 30,000
34. 1:13infrared dots onto your skin to check
35. 1:15that your eyes are open.
36. 1:17If you look closely enough for the
37. 1:19padlock icon to open, the phone knows
38. 1:22you are awake.
39. 1:23Now, so does the sender.
40. 1:26Rule two. Do not read the numbers in
41. 1:28your head.
42. 1:30If your lock screen shows the preview,
43. 1:32look away before you finish the sixth
44. 1:34digit. Humans cannot read six numbers at
45. 1:37once. You group them, three and three,
46. 1:40or two, two, and two.
47. 1:43Even when you read silently, your throat
48. 1:45moves.
49. 1:46>> [music]
50. 1:47>> Scientists call this sub-vocalization.
51. 1:50Your brain sends tiny electrical signals
52. 1:52to your vocal cords for every number you
53. 1:54see.
54. 1:55You think you are being quiet. To
55. 1:58something standing 4 ft away in total
56. 2:00silence, you might as well be shouting.
57. 2:04Rule three, do not touch the keyboard.
58. 2:07>> [music]
59. 2:07>> Later, your screen will wake up on its
60. 2:10own. An empty text box will appear.
61. 2:13Above the keyboard, in a small gray bar,
62. 2:16your phone will offer a suggestion.
63. 2:18From messages, auto fill code.
64. 2:21Engineers built this to save you 4
65. 2:23seconds. Do not tap it. Do not clear it.
66. 2:28For auto fill to appear, an application
67. 2:30must be open in the background asking
68. 2:32for permission. You have no apps open.
69. 2:35My ex-wife still uses my streaming
70. 2:37account. I get the codes on Tuesdays. I
71. 2:40never send them to her.
72. 2:42Apologies. That is not in the file.
73. 2:45>> [music]
74. 2:45>> Please disregard.
75. 2:46Rule four,
76. 2:48do not delete the message.
77. 2:50You will want to swipe it left, press
78. 2:52delete, [music] and go back to sleep.
79. 2:54That is how you handle spam.
80. 2:57This is not spam. When a verification
81. 3:00code is deleted without being entered,
82. 3:02the system assumes it was lost. After 60
83. 3:05seconds, it automatically selects the
84. 3:07backup option. You have seen the button
85. 3:10before.
86. 3:11Didn't receive a code? Call me instead.
87. 3:14In a normal call, an automated voice
88. 3:16reads the six numbers twice. If your
89. 3:19phone rings at 3:15 in the morning, the
90. 3:21voice on the other end will not be
91. 3:23automated. It will be yours.
92. 3:26Practicing.
93. 3:27Rule five, do not check the hallway.
94. 3:31This is where most people fail. A second
95. 3:34notification will arrive. Not a text, a
96. 3:37security alert. New login attempt
97. 3:40detected near you.
98. 3:42Usually, the small map shows a city you
99. 3:44have never visited.
100. 3:45>> [music]
101. 3:46>> Tonight, the blue pin is inside your
102. 3:48building. In fact,
103. 3:50>> [music]
104. 3:50>> it is connected to your Wi-Fi.
105. 3:52You will look at your bedroom door
106. 3:54anyway. The door is closed. Look at the
107. 3:57strip of light underneath it from the
108. 3:59hallway lamp you left on. There are two
109. 4:02dark gaps in the light. It has been
110. 4:04standing there since the first buzz. It
111. 4:07cannot turn the handle until the code is
112. 4:09entered. Verification codes expire in 10
113. 4:12minutes. It has 4 minutes left. It is
114. 4:16very patient. You are not.
115. 4:19You just looked at your door. Please
116. 4:21keep your hands under the blanket.
117. 4:24Apologies.
118. 4:25>> [music]
119. 4:25>> That was unprofessional.
120. 4:27Rule six. Do not tap. This wasn't me.
121. 4:32At the bottom of the message, there is a
122. 4:33blue link. If you did not request this,
123. 4:36tap here to secure your account. Do not
124. 4:39tap it. If you do, a grid of nine
125. 4:42squares will appear on your screen. It
126. 4:44will ask you to select all the squares
127. 4:46with traffic lights or crosswalks or
128. 4:49stairs.
129. 4:50You have done this a thousand times to
130. 4:52prove to a machine that you are human.
131. 4:55Have you ever wondered what the machine
132. 4:57does with your answers?
133. 4:58>> [music]
134. 4:59>> It is not checking if you are a person.
135. 5:01It is studying how a person hesitates
136. 5:04before clicking the last square.
137. 5:06By morning, [music] the alert will be
138. 5:08gone. Your message history will be
139. 5:10empty.
140. 5:11Everything will seem normal.
141. 5:13Until you open your notes app, press
142. 5:15paste, and six digits appear that you
143. 5:18never copied.
144. 5:20Rule seven.
145. 5:22By now, you are wondering how this
146. 5:23department knows which six numbers were
147. 5:26on your nightstand or how we know you
148. 5:28never changed your password from the one
149. 5:30you used in 2019.
150. 5:33We are a trusted government agency. We
151. 5:36do not forget our passwords. We have
152. 5:38never needed to prove we are human.
153. 5:41Security experts call this two-factor
154. 5:44authentication.
155. 5:45Factor one is something you know. It has
156. 5:48lived in your walls long enough to know
157. 5:50everything you know. It knows when your
158. 5:53alarm rings. It knows how you breathe
159. 5:55when you are pretending to be asleep. It
160. 5:58has had factor one for months.
161. 6:01Factor two is something you have. A
162. 6:04body. Two eyes that work in the dark. A
163. 6:07voice that can repeat six numbers.
164. 6:10The code was not for your bank. It was
165. 6:12not for your email.
166. 6:14You are the account it is trying to log
167. 6:16into.
168. 6:18Rule seven. When a message at 3:00 in
169. 6:20the morning says, "Do not share."