HACKER Q&A
📣 akkartik

Is Google about to require 2FA on all users?


I just received the following email from Google to my @gmail.com address.

    Soon you’ll sign in with 2-Step Verification

    After you enter your password, you’ll complete a second step on your phone.
    Keep your phone nearby when you sign in.

    2-Step Verification will be turned on automatically on December 14.
    You can turn this on sooner if you want — your account is all set.

    Why is my sign-in changing?
    Using a second step to sign in makes your account much more secure.
    How this protects your account

    How does it work?
    After you enter your password, you’ll tap a Google prompt on your phone
    or get a sign-in code to enter (charges from your carrier may apply).

    Make sure you can get help signing in
    Update your phone and recovery email
Has anyone else received this? I recall some rumblings from over a year ago that this was happening, but I don't see any recent news about this.

(Personally, breaking my POP backups (which use getmail) will be the final impetus to get me off gmail.)

  👤 wmf Accepted Answer ✓
It was in the news: https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/5/22710421/google-security-...
👤 marto1
I'd really appreciate if someone deeply familiar with the subject shared how much of this comes in the name of security and how much in the name of keeping people from creating fake accounts/multiple identities/etc ? Bonus points for citing sources :-)
👤 mindcrime
Yep, I got it as well.
👤 rolph
charges from your carrier may apply?
👤 kleer001
yup, I got that too