SecurityTrails 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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SecurityTrails, a Recorded Future company, sells DNS, WHOIS and domain data to security teams (SecurityTrails, archived). Your SecurityTrails account holds your API keys and your access to the web console and SurfaceBrowser, so it's worth protecting with two-factor authentication (2FA). SecurityTrails lets you add it with any authenticator app that shows 6-digit codes, and its help doesn't describe a text-message option. Two-factor authentication is optional (SecurityTrails, archived).
The unusual part is the backup. SecurityTrails doesn't hand out a list of recovery codes. It asks you to keep the setup key itself. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: SecurityTrails' website only opens in a full web browser, so our automated reader couldn't load its help pages directly. The SecurityTrails steps come from an archived copy of its own knowledge base article on two-factor authentication, saved on web.archive.org on January 12, 2024, including the article's screenshots, and from archived copies of its FAQ and home page from 2026. We read them on October 21, 2026. The article was last updated in February 2021, and we haven't tested the steps on a SecurityTrails account, so labels may have changed since. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
The archived article describes these steps (SecurityTrails, archived):
- Sign in to your SecurityTrails account and open User Details, under Account in the left menu. The page is titled Edit User Details.
- Next to Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), click Enable Two-Factor Authentication.
- A Two-Factor Authentication Setup window opens with a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot and use Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- To type the key instead, click Or enter your setup key manually. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, type a name such as SecurityTrails as the Service, and paste the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- Save the setup key now. The window has download and copy buttons for it (more on this below).
- Type the 6-digit code from Novaz in the box under Enter the 6-digit code from the application, then click Enable Two-Factor Authentication.
SecurityTrails says its codes are 6 digits and change every 30 seconds, which is what Novaz uses for a typed key. If Novaz won't accept the key you typed, scan the QR code instead.
Your setup key is your backup
The setup window asks you to download or copy your setup key so you can still sign in if you can't reach your authenticator app (SecurityTrails, archived). The article doesn't mention backup or recovery codes, so that key is the only fallback it describes.
This matters most if you don't back up Novaz with iCloud backup or a backup file, since then its keys exist only on your iPhone. With the saved key, you can add SecurityTrails again to a new authenticator app and get the same codes. Anyone else who has the key can do that too, so keep it somewhere private, such as a password manager or a printed copy at home, and not in a shared folder or email. More on fallback options in 2FA backup codes.
When SecurityTrails asks for a code
After your email and password, SecurityTrails shows a Two-Factor Authentication screen. Type the code from Novaz and click Verify. A Don't ask on this device again for 30 days checkbox on that screen skips the code on that device for the next 30 days. Leave it unchecked on a shared or public computer (SecurityTrails, archived).
If SecurityTrails rejects your code
The article doesn't cover rejected codes beyond pointing you to support. The most common cause is a wrong clock on the phone. On iPhone, open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Other causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones
SecurityTrails' help doesn't describe moving 2FA to a new phone. If you saved the setup key, add it to Novaz on the new iPhone with Enter key manually, and check that the codes match before you wipe the old phone. A Novaz iCloud backup or backup file also restores the account on the new iPhone. Without the key or a Novaz backup, you'd need another way back in. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Start with the setup key you saved: add it to an authenticator app on any phone and sign in with the code it shows.
Without the key, the code screen's own advice is to contact support. SecurityTrails' FAQ sends account changes, such as a new email address, to the support team through its contact page (SecurityTrails, archived). Neither page says what proof support asks for or how long it takes. Writing from the email address on your account is a sensible start. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Turning 2FA off
The archived article doesn't describe turning two-factor authentication off. Look on the same User Details page, or ask support.
