Google has made some changes to how users can set up 2-step verification (2SV) on their Google accounts. The search giant said it"s "simplifying how users turn on 2-Step Verification (2SV), which will streamline the process, and make it easier for admins to enforce 2SV policies in their organizations."
Users who wanted to add "second step methods" to their accounts were previously required to enable 2SV with a phone number first. With the new changes in place, they can directly add second step methods such as Google Authenticator or a security key before enabling 2SV on their account.
Google now offers two options to users who want to add a hardware security key to their account as a second layer of security. They can register a FIDO1 credential on the security key or store a Passkey on it.
The company notes that users with Workspace accounts may still have to use their password along with their passkey if their organization requires it. Organizations can use the admin policy "Allow users to skip passwords at sign-in by using passkeys" to offer password-less logins to the users.
Google introduced Passkeys for Android and Chrome in the second half of 2022. The authentication tech was launched for Google Accounts last year and, since then, has been used more than a billion times across 400 million accounts.
Another change Google has made is all the second factors, including backup codes, second factor phones, or Google Authenticator, will not be automatically removed from your account if you decide to turn off 2SV from the settings.
However, the second factors will get deleted if an administrator turns off 2SV for a user from the admin console "to ensure user off-boarding workflows remain unaffected." All of these changes are available to all Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts, according to the company, adding that the rollout will be completed in about three days.
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