The article delves into the intricacies of implementing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounts, emphasizing the importance of securing MFA secret keys to prevent account compromise. It shares a personal anecdote about using a YubiKey and highlights the risks associated with relying on SMS-based authentication due to vulnerability to SIM swapping. The author describes setting up a virtual MFA device, securely storing the secret key in a password manager like LastPass, and explains how to programmatically generate time-based one-time passwords (TOTPs) using tools like oathtool and Python scripts. The piece also touches on the benefits of using Earthly for Continuous Integration (CI) builds and concludes by promoting Earthly's universal SDLC monitoring service.