Two-step authentication added to Google Apps

Google to send verification codes to customers' mobile phones

Google will send verification codes to Google App users

Google has introduced two-step verification for Google Apps accounts to increase the security of its cloud offering.

When enabled by an administrator, the verification requires two means of identification to sign in to a Google Apps account: the user’s password and their mobile phone. The added security doesn’t require any special tokens or devices.

After a user enters their password, a verification code is sent to their mobile phone via SMS, voice calls or generated on an application you can install on Android, BlackBerry or iPhone devices.

“This makes it much more likely that you’re the only one accessing your data: even if someone has stolen your password, they'll need more than that to access your account,” explained Eran Feigenbaum, director of security, Google Apps, in a blog post.

“You can also indicate when you're using a computer you trust and don't want to be asked for a verification code from that machine in the future.”

The company said that it will be making it possible for organisations, large and small, to use this technology for free. Google said that it will also be offering this same security to its hundreds of millions of individual Google users in the coming months.