iStartus | Google's Two-Factor Authentication Now Live In 150 Countries

Google’s Two-Factor Authentication Now Live In 150 Countries And 40 Languages

Good news for Google users outside of the United States: the internet giant has announced that Two-Step Verification is now available in 150 countries worldwide and 40 languages. You should use it. Really.

No, the feature, which is more generally referred to as two-factor authentication, doesn’t sound cool. In fact, it’s sort of a pain to set up. But it helps protect your Google account against phishing and some other security attacks — which is vitally important given how much data many people are storing on Google servers, and will only become more so.

Here’s how it works: after activating two-step authentication, whenever you attempt to log into your Google account you’ll be prompted for both your ‘regular’ password and a second password that’s only available via your phone. In other words, logging in requires both your password (which could potentially be phished) and a code from something you physically have (which is harder to get).

You can opt to receive this second code via smartphone, phone call, or SMS . And you can use a cookie to save that second token for thirty days, so you’ll only have to go through the process once a month on the computers you use frequently.

Of course, many applications and devices ask for your Google credentials (iCal, phones, tablets, whatever), and they don’t have this two-factor flow built in. For these, Google lets you create application-specific passwords — Google will spit out a unique string of random letters, you type them into the application’s password field and save it . This process is probably the most confusing thing about two-step verification, but it’s not too tricky once you’ve done it a few times.

By Jason Kincaid - TechCrunch on July 29,2011

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