It is said that the more security measures in place, the better it is. These days, we rely too much on digital data and this is why it is important to protect our data. Like others, Google offers some extra opt-in features that can help you to protect your Google account, or get notifications in case of any suspicious activity.
One way to do this is by using the two-step authentication process. With two-step verification, you can add an extra layer of security to your Google account by using both your password and your phone to login. Google will send the code via text, voice call or via mobile app. What’s more, there’s also an option to trust a computer, so Google won’t ask you for a code again on that particular computer. The advantage is that if anyone tries to login to your account from some other computer, Google will prompt that person to enter the code, in addition to the username and password.
Apart from enabling two-step authentication, you can also enable notifications to alert you of any suspicious activity on your account. These notifications can be received via email and text message. The email notification feature was available a long time, but what’s new is the text message notification feature. This method would be useful if you want to instantly get notified when someone is trying to crack your password. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) says these notifications are only for account security purposes, and they won’t send you any unwanted notification or spam emails. Let’s learn how to enable SMS (text message) security notifications for your Google account.
Step 1: Login to your Google account and click on your profile picture from top-right corner and then click on “Account.” Alternatively, you can also visit that page from here.
Step 2: From the left-hand side, click on the “Security” link. Scroll down and then you’ll be able to see the Notifications section. If you have not verified your phone number, then you’ll need to do this first by clicking on “Verify this number to allow phone notifications.”
Step 3: Once step 2 is complete and you have verified your phone number, check both the boxes beneath “Phone”, next to Password change and Suspicious login attempt (as highlighted in below screenshot).
That’s all you need to do. From now onwards, you will receive notifications on your phone whenever any suspicious activity is detected by Google.
Just in case you receive any such notification, the first thing that you should do is to change your password. Ensure that your new password is strong, and contains special characters, as well as alphanumeric.
That’s all. You just made your account more secure.
