Google May Force All Users To Use 2 Factor Authentication. Sometimes Google takes a heavy-hand approach to security, but their heart is in the right place. That seems to be the case with the company’s most recent announcement.
Soon, Google will start force Gmail and Google account holders to use two-factor authentication (2FA) by automatically enrolling them in those services.
If you decide you don’t want to bother with Google’s two-factor authentication and to make your account easier to hack and less secure, then you have to opt-out of 2FA rather than having to jump through a few initial hoops to opt-in.
Although there will no doubt be a vocal minority of Google users who will complain mightily about the authentication change, the simple fact is that bad password habits are the single biggest threat to internet security. Human beings are the weakest link, and invariably, they pick incredibly easy passwords to remember. That, unfortunately, also makes the accounts they guard very easy to hack.
Not Idle Talk
That’s not just idle talk, either. According to statistics gathered by Microsoft Google, 99.9 percent of the compromised accounts they track every month did not use multi-factor authentication. That is another way of saying that 2FA works if the goal is to make user accounts more secure.
If you have a Google G-Mail account or use other Google services, know that the authentication change is coming. Even though it takes a few seconds longer to log in with an authentication, do yourself a favor and go with the change. It will make your account more secure, which will mean significantly less risk for you.
That’s a good thing.
Grumbles aside, kudos to Google for taking an unpopular stand in the short run, but is a very good thing.
