Google is said to be offering a 2 step authentication (dual authentication) for it’s free Gmail service starting Thursday. In addition to putting your regular Gmail password in, you will now have the option to put in a code that is generated every couple minutes which can be sent to your Droid smart phone via sms. The object of this is to make it harder for hackers to break into your account. Many large companies already offer authentication similar to this but never has it been offered by a free service such as Gmail. There are a few steps you need to take in order to enable this feature so Google recommends you take 15 minutes and really think about what you’re about to do. Setting up this authentication required you to give Google a backup phone number to send sms messages to in case your cell phone gets lost or stolen. If all else fails there is a way to get back into your account through a series of dificult to answer security questions.
Do you think this extra security layer is overkill for the free email service?
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Neat. Like the “securID” keychain i had when i worked for prudential. Used with vpn it would refresh and create a new auth key every few minutes and display it on the keychain
Yeah Doug, it’s a pretty cool thing that Google is offering it for a free service. No need for a keychain and you always have your cell phone around.