If you think accessing Gmail and other Google Apps is easy and anybody who hasn’t signed up can login into the same then you might not know about the dual-factor authentication that Google has brought upon for suspicious Google Apps logins.
With an intention to block the unauthorized use of its services, Google is planning to ask users to verify their accounts with a text message in case the company finds any suspicious attempt to login. This mechanism is applicable for everybody who uses Google including those who have not signed up for the dual-factor authentication feature. This feature is very effective as it significantly increases the security of your account. Also, by using this feature the users can verify their accounts in two simple steps, first is a password and the second is code generated by a Smartphone app or text message.
The security benefits of using Dual-factor Authentication is so high that sites like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Twitter, Dropbox, and LastPass are opting for this feature. In a statement given by the company, Google official said, “Whenever any suspicious login is detected, this mechanism helps us send an SMS with a verification code to the user’s phone and ask them to enter this code in the space provided. Only then a user can access his or her account. This feature reduces the chances of unauthorized access of the account because the attacker doesn’t have the user’s phone or password”.
Google Apps charges $50-per-person-per-year service to grant access to services like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. It is its attempt to make such services better by introducing security mechanisms like dual-factor authentication and help the users to withstand threats like identity theft, industrial espionage, etc.
In an update made on Tuesday, Google said that it will slowly roll out this feature for all domains over the coming week. And, it will also prompt them to share the number in case people haven’t told Google their phone numbers.
Just in case a person cannot respond to the text-message authentication, Google offers a “fallback challenge,” in which the person will be given 10-minute period to react to the situation.
