Google Security News: Two-Factor Authentication To Be Replaced and Upgraded for High-Profile Users?
Google is reportedly planning to upgrade their security features, especially for high-profile users, following severe hacking incidents that transpired during the 2016 United States elections.
The new security services, which Google will call the Advanced Protection Program, is reportedly going to be launched next month and will be offered to some entities based on a tip from "two people familiar with the company's plan," according to Bloomberg.
However, it seems the Advanced Protection Program will not be widely available to ordinary consumers as it was conceived following high-profile, politically-motivated email account breaches in the past year.
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The same report explained that the protection scheme will replace the user's two-factor authentication with "a pair of physical security keys." This level of protection will only be offered to high-profile personalities like company executives and politicians and others who are most likely targeted with sophisticated hacking and cyber attacks.
Apart from using a set of physical keys, the Advanced Protection Program is also reportedly designed to block any access initiated by "all third-party applications" which are commonly used by attackers to infiltrate encrypted emails and files saved on cloud services.
Google did not provide any comment on the rumored heightened security features.
Meanwhile, it is safe to say that the planned Advanced Protection Program is widely inspired by the notorious series of hacking incidents that targeted the likes of 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of the Democratic Party.
Wikileaks also revealed a ton of email conversations from Clinton's campaign adviser, John Podesta, including an exchange where the former Secretary of State was said to have "terrible instincts" and another one where Podesta called Bernie Sanders a "doofus" for criticizing the Paris climate change pact.
Sanders was Clinton's primary rival as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.
There were even reports that Podesta might have fallen victim to a phishing scheme in an attempt to reset his account – an incident that led to the exposure of some of his private emails to colleagues.
Meanwhile, for the average Joe who uses Google's email and other services, the reports appear to imply that everyone will have to keep on using the two-factor authentication security measure it offers.
