Dropbox Beefs Up Security With Two-Step Verification

In recent times, a number of fairly secure platforms have faced hacking attacks. Many of these attacks were successful, for instance in the case of LinkedIn, where the hackers were able to lay their hands on millions of encrypted passwords.

Thus it has become pertinent for other platform to beef up their security. Dropbox, the popular cloud storage service, is now introducing a two-step verification method to ensure the safety of user accounts. The verification method will be much the same as Google’s implementation on Gmail.

To setup the two-step verification on your Dropbox account, you need to follow a few basic steps. These are listed below:

1/ Ensure that your Dropbox desktop client is 1.5.12 or later. If you have an earlier version, upgrade to 1.5.12 by downloading from here.

2/ Go to your Dropbox home page > Settings > Security.

3/ Navigate to the bottom left of the screen. You’ll see the ‘Two-step verification’ option right under ‘Forgot Password?’
The default option selected on ‘Two-Step verification’ would be ‘Disabled.’ Click on the ‘Change’ button next to it. On the dialog box that appears, hit the ‘Get Started’ button.

4/ First, you’ll be required to enter your current password. Then you’ll be presented with two options. To receive the security codes via text message or make use of a mobile app. Naturally, if you use a non-smartphone, text message is a good choice. Otherwise, stick with the mobile app option.

5/ If you select text message, you’ll be asked for your phone number. Dropbox will then send the verification code as well as future security codes to that number whenever you log in or add a new device.

6/ At this point, you’ll also be provided a 16-character emergency code. In case you lose the phone, you can disable the two-step verification with the help of this code.

7/ As for the mobile app users, you can scan the barcode provided by Dropbox after launching the authenticator app on your smartphone. Like with the other option, Dropbox will provide you a 16-digit emergency code once your two-step method is set up.

8/ Once you’ve set up the two-step verification, you will be sent a 6-digit code through text message or on the mobile app every time you log into your account. However, you can select the ‘Trust this computer’ option to log in from a given machine without having to enter the password.

Dropbox’s decision to implement two-step verification is indeed a good one. With such a huge user base and the sheer bulk of data that users store on their Dropbox accounts, the service certainly needs to take such measure to ensure the security of such data.

Salman Latif
Categories: Web
Tags: dropbox, Security