Following a security breach in July, and a promise to do better where it comes to security, Dropbox is rolling out a two-step authentication feature. The new feature, which is currently still experimental, adds an additional requirement to the login process, making an unauthorized access to accounts much less likely.
A two-step verification process makes use of a special code, which can be either received by text message or generated by some smartphones apps. If you choose to enable this feature, you’d be required to enter this code every time you log into your Dropbox account, in addition to your regular password. The code can be generated by apps such as Google Authenticator (Android, iOS, Blackberry), but there are other options available.
As the feature is still in testing, you must install the latest beta build of Dropbox (1.5.12) in order to use it. Once its installed, head over to your account’s security settings (requires login), and scroll all the way down to “Account sign-in”. From there, you will be able to enable two-step verification for your account.
If you don’t like messing around with betas, you can simply wait a few days. The new feature should be rolling out as an official release sometime in the upcoming week.
Will you be using this new feature for your Dropbox account?
Source: Dropbox Forums
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As long as I can set my home computers to some kind of trusted status, I’ll definitely enable this for web access.
I believe you can do that, it’s standard procedure with this kind of thing.
Too lazy to enable that. Also, I don’t keep important stuff in my dropbox account.
Then you’re really lazy. It’s done in a few seconds :P
At least! I’ve been waiting for this from the beginning of Dropbox. I almost converted myself to Google Drive, because of the two-step authentication, but I don’t need to do that anymore.
Still, they should get rid of de-duplication process. I don’t want them to index and take control over my files. Until then, I’ll use it only for some non-important files.
Do you feel Google Drive is a better option for keeping you files safe? Or did you consider moving just because of the two-step auth.?
There are no cloud storage services that are safe enough for valuable documents. I store all of them locally, but even when I want to pass around something, I would prefer a service with better security.
Thanks for the heads-up, Yaara! :)
i try not to keep important files on my dropbox either. in fact, i accidentally shared a folder with a friend, so i learned the extra hard way to just not have important files in a cloud storage
Not so enticing as one has to enter the security code every time one logs into Dropbox. Had it been only for one time; it would be less cumbersome and time saving…
Well, as its still in beta, you can provide the Dropbox team with feedback about it. I’m sure many people will ask for a “trust this computer” feature, so it might be included in the offiicial release.
By the way, thanks for the update…
I’m not sure if they will support international mobile number?
I’m pretty sure it should work, but you can always use an app for the code if it’s a problem. It’s probably more convenient anyway, as you don’t have to wait for the SMS.
hope no more breaches…
This is awesome, and I’m glad DropBox is really looking into making their security tighter.