Adding a phone # to my G Account for “recovery” = people hacking my phone?

Posted by louisbird on Monday February 16, 2015 @05:09AM
from the self-post dept.

Google says I should make my account more secure by adding a phone number for password recovery.

However, I don't believe my phone is secure. I've read too many stories (@N on Twitter, etc.) about phone companies getting social engineered.

So I removed the recovery phone number (and e-mail address) from my Google Account.

I'm not going to forget my password, and if I drop my 2fa device in a lake, I still have the backup codes.

So I'm not worried about me goofing up and losing access to my account.

But I am VERY worried about a hacker resetting the password to my account.

Is Google's account recovery procedure LESS secure if I don't have a phone added to the account? Is Google willing to grant a password reset request with LESS info if I don't add the phone?

What I really want is a way to lockdown my account that says "No password resets, ever, no matter what."

( 3 comments | 2 points | on HN )

Re:Adding a phone # to my G Account for “recovery” = people ... by franciscogarcia on Monday February 16, 2015 @05:18AM (#9056116)

Having no password resets could be counterproductive. Just put random gibberish in the security questions, hashes or whatever.

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Re:Adding a phone # to my G Account for “recovery” = people ... by ramlalkumawat on Thursday February 19, 2015 @10:56PM (#9078823)

1234567890ramlalkumawat

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Re:Adding a phone # to my G Account for “recovery” = people ... by ramlalkumawat on Thursday February 19, 2015 @10:57PM (#9078827)

Ramlalkumawat

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