My mistake was that I didn't enable 2 factor authentication.
Kind of aggressive calling out Google's engineers when you couldn't bother protecting yourself with their free and easy to use security mechanisms.
Re:Google hacked account
by probably_wrong on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @09:07AM
(#9804876)
Except that now Google has my phone number linked to my identity too. I know this is not everyone's use case, but for those of us that care deeply about privacy, that's not a good alternative.
If that's not a good counterpoint, my phone/SMS service sucks when I'm traveling abroad, which is exactly when Google thinks I'm not me.
I wish Google supported TOTP like Github does, without asking for a phone number.
> I wish Google supported TOTP like Github does...
Goid nees, they do! They even have an app for it.
Re:Google hacked account
by probably_wrong on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @11:00AM
(#9805726)
Yes, they do, but there's no way to set it up without giving your phone number first. Whenever I enter into the 2FV options, I have to give a phone number, no alternative. I have no idea why. Sorry I wasn't clear enough.
And a PAM module!
Are you sure that's still the case?
This[1] would seem to indicate you can use a U2F device[2] as an alternative to providing a cell phone for verification.
[1] https://www.google.com/landing/2step/#tab=how-it-works
[2] http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2014/10/strengtheni...
Re:Google hacked account
by probably_wrong on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @06:08PM
(#9808744)
My guess is that you can eventually enable that, but not at first. When I click on the "get started" button, I get "Step 1: Set up your phone", with no alternative button in sight.
Re:Google hacked account
by JupiterMoon on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @09:14AM
(#9804920)
Does gmail support using a second email as the second factor? Hotmail does...
Re:Google hacked account
by mondoshawan on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @09:49AM
(#9805148)
The entire account system does.
If you didn't enable 2FA, how on earth is Google or anyone for that matter able to verify it's you that owns the email address? Anyone at any time could claim they were hacked, and it's not like they require a drivers license ID when you register.
Honestly I'm not sure what Google can do here that (a) doesn't require them to now individually support users ($$$) or (b) doesn't open them up to thousands of erroneous claims.
Re:Google hacked account
by danielweber on Tuesday June 30, 2015 @11:20AM
(#9805877)
I would prefer a system where I can pay $100 to Google to get a competent human to look at the case versus now where I can hope I have a friend of a friend to make enough noise to get someone's attention.
I did create another account, they still send the link to cancel the request to the original account!!!