Starting spring this year, all users of Google Nest (Google's subsidiary that sells smart home products) will be required to enroll for two-factor authentication to reduce the likelihood of unauthorized persons gaining access to a Nest account, Google Nest's head of security announced in a blog post on February 11. MediaNama has reached out to Google seeking clarification on the exact date when the change will be brought into effect and whether this feature will also be available for Nest users in India. The move comes a month after a user of Xiaomi’s Mijia, a smart home security camera, claimed that their Google Nest Hub smart display started showing images from strangers’ cameras. "Automated attacks like credential stuffing are becoming more common. That’s when stolen information like email addresses and passwords used on other websites are repurposed to gain unauthorized access to an account or device." - Google Nest said in the blog. Spring onwards, Google will require all Nest users who have not already enrolled in two-factor authentication or migrated to a Google account to verify their identity via email. This essentially means that simply having a username and a password will not be sufficient for someone to login to an account. How the 2-factor authentication will work: When a new login into an account will be initiated, users will receive an email from account@nest.com with a six-digit verification code. That code will be used to verify that it’s the genuine account holder trying to login. Without it, the account will be barred from access. Google still encourages…
