Google 2-Step Verification Process Now Available to All

Tweet

If you’ve moved most of your work and personal computing to the cloud, then there’s always the risk of your accounts being hacked. Google now gives users the option of a 2-step verification process, to reduce the risk of account theft.

Your Google account is not only important for logging into your Gmail, accessing Google Docs and other applications like Calendar, Reader, and the like. Your Google account can also be used to gain access to third-party applications via API. However, this also means bigger risks in case someone breaks into your Google account.

For added protection, Google is rolling out its 2-step account verification process to all users starting this week. With the two-step verification, Google doesn’t just require your username and password to login, but also an additional code that changes on a regular and frequent basis. This code is sent to your mobile phone via SMS, so Google is assured that you are the person logging in. Users also have a choice of generating the code manually via Android, Blackberry or iPhone application.

This makes it more difficult to gain access to your account, because a potential hacker will need not just what you know (your username and password), but also what you have (your mobile phone) in order to login.

Users can choose for the verification to be remembered on a particular computer for 30 days, or for application-specific passwords to be generated.

While the feature used to have a limited user base, Google is rolling out the feature to all Google account users starting this week.