Google Adds 2-Factor Security to Gmail and Apps

In the Official Google Blog today, Nishit Shah, Product Manager, Google Security announced that they’ve developed an advanced opt-in security feature called 2-step verification . They announced this to their Google Apps customers a few months ago, but they’re now rolling it out to everyone.

“Most of us are used to entrusting our information to a password, but we know that some of you are looking for something stronger,” Shah blogged. “…2-step verification … makes your Google Account significantly more secure by helping to verify that you’re the real owner of your account.

“2-step verification requires two independent factors for authentication, much like you might see on your banking website: your password, plus a code obtained using your phone.”

As I write this, the feature is still not available on my accounts, but it should be there shortly.

I hope that Google’s lead will bring a sea change in how all SaaS providers view security.

For the full story, here is the blog post:Advanced sign-in security for your Google account.