Google has just announced on its blog the activation of two-factor authentication on 150 million accounts by the end of 2021. Google is taking advantage of cybersecurity awareness month to announce its plans on the subject.
In May 2021, Google had already announced it: the Mountain View firm intends to activate two-factor authentication on all Google accounts. Of course, this is a major project to strengthen the security of user accounts, and with hundreds of millions of accounts worldwide, the California company must take it step by step.
And this month dedicated to cybersecurity awareness, Google has just announced on his official blog enabling two-factor authentication on 150 million additional accounts by the end of 2021. As a reminder, two-factor authentication ensures the authenticity of a user’s identity by requiring two separate proofs of identity, such as a password and entering a one-time code.
Google takes stock of its security systems
Already in May 2020, Google has also improved two-factor authentication via the implementation of smartphone notifications instead of the one-time code. Among the other projects mentioned by the American company, Google plans to ask 2 million content creators on YouTube enable two-factor authentication to protect their channels from possible fraudulent takeovers.
Moreover, Google announces that it has partnered with several organizations to distribute over 10,000 hardware security keys each year. Google has also returned to its password manager integrated in Chrome, Android and in the Google application. Integrated in 2019 on Google Chrome, the company claims to have verified more than a billion passwords per day. Google recalls that the password manager is also available on iOS, where Chrome can automatically fill in the credentials of other applications.
In this regard, Google specifies that the password manager will soon make it possible to generate passwords for other applications. In addition, it will be possible to see the list of all your saved passwords directly in the menu of the Google application. Finally, Google stressed the importance of the inactive account manager launched in 2013. It invites users to take advantage of it for more security, noting in passing that the cyberattack against Colonial Pipeline in May 2021 was due to an inactive account.