{"id":489011,"date":"2023-04-25T14:40:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T12:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=489011"},"modified":"2023-04-25T14:41:51","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T12:41:51","slug":"google-authenticator-now-syncs-2fa-codes-to-the-cloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/security\/489011-google-authenticator-now-syncs-2fa-codes-to-the-cloud.html","title":{"rendered":"Google Authenticator now syncs 2FA codes to the cloud"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google has updated its Authenticator smartphone app for Android and iOS with support for backing up<\/strong><\/a> two-factor authentication (2FA) codes to the cloud.<\/p>\n

Since its launch in 2010, the app has stored one-time 2FA codes for all services locally on a single device \u2014 typically a smartphone.<\/p>\n

Google product manager for identity and security, Christiaan Brand, explained that many users had complained about how this became a problem if that device was lost or stolen.<\/p>\n

Google provides the option to transfer 2FA codes to a new device manually, but that requires scanning a QR code<\/strong><\/a> on the old device.<\/p>\n

Unless a service offered a recovery system for logging in without a 2FA code, users could be cut off from their accounts.<\/p>\n

By enabling syncing with the cloud, users can get their 2FA codes on other devices logged into their Google accounts.<\/p>\n

Some might be concerned that the feature increases the risk of compromise, as it could provide an additional vector for an attacker to gain access to someone’s second authentication factor.<\/p>\n

However, Brand maintained the change would better protect users from account lockout and assure services supporting Google Authenticator that their users could retain access to their accounts, increasing convenience and security.<\/p>\n

To start using the cloud syncing feature on Google Authenticator, users must update to the latest version of the app.<\/p>\n

If you are signed into your Google account, codes for linked services will automatically be backed up and restored on any new device where you log in.<\/p>\n

\n

Now read: How to tell if your smartphone is hacked \u2014\u00a0and what to do about it<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The update comes after Google Authenticator users complained that they got locked out of their accounts after losing their devices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":489025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[167,51321,85801],"class_list":["post-489011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security","tag-google","tag-google-authenticator","tag-two-factor-authentication-2fa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":489083,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489011\/revisions\/489083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}