For years, security experts have been pushing users to make the transition to two-factor authentication. This is because every year, millions of user accounts get hacked because they still tend to keep passwords like “123456”, “abcd,” or “password.” Not only this leads to accounts getting hacked and sensitive user information being leaked, but it also results in tech companies getting the blame for not being secure enough.
Well, Google seems to have enough of this and has now decided to force two-factor authentication. If you have added a secondary email or linked your phone number to your Google account, the tech giant will enable two-factor authentication and force users to use the same.
The upcoming changes were announced in an official Google Blog post the Mountain-View-based company published for World Password Day. The blog says that the search term “how strong is my password” was searched on Google more than 300% than it was in 2019. The company also said that using long, complicated passwords isn’t enough since users might use the same password on multiple websites, making it less secure.
Soon we’ll start automatically enrolling users in 2SV [two-step verification] if their accounts are appropriately configured. Using their mobile device to sign in gives people a safer and more secure authentication experience than passwords alone.
– Mark Risher, Google’s director of product management, identity, and user security.
He then directed towards the Google Smart Lock App for iOS and Android’s inbuilt security mechanisms, both of which are designed to make 2FA easier. Google Chrome’s password manager is also good. When paired with the recently launched Password Import feature, the Google Password Manager can easily save more than 1,000 passwords from third-party websites.
Google slowly made users switch to 2FA. The company forced users to approve their sign-in from mobile devices whenever users logged into Gmail. It is a type of two-factor authentication since you have to provide your credentials from two devices in order to prove your identity. If you want to know how secure your Google account is right now, you can head over to the Google Security Checkup Page here.
