You Should Not Use the New Google Authenticator Account Backup Feature Right Now

If you got the Google Authenticator update to version 6.0, make sure you are not backing up your codes to your account at this time.

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Video Description
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Last week it was announced that Google had finally updated its 2FA app to version 6.0. This big update actually added a big feature that people have been asking about for years.

#Android #GooglePixel #SamsungGalaxy

A major downside of using Google Authenticator was because the app didn't offer a way to transfer your codes to another device if you had lost your smartphone or if you were locked out of it. This led many people to switch to alternatives like Authy.

For years Google refused to add such a feature to its Authenticator application but that has now changed.

In a new blog post last week, the company finally said they would allow people to backup their 2FA codes to their own Google account.

However, it seems the Mountain View tech giant has dropped the ball again because they are not encrypting this data in any way right now.

So at this time, I cannot recommend that people use this new feature in Google Authenticator.
In fact, this implementation is so bad that I wanted to make a video to specifically tell people to not enable it in its current state.

The reason is because none of this data is encrypted right now.

Google is not encrypting the data on its own servers and they haven't even implemented end-to-end encryption for the backup service either.

This means that anyone who is on your network can easily convert the data being sent to Google's servers and reveal your 2FA secret, aka a seed.

This also means that with this feature enabled, if someone ends up gaining access to your Google account, then they can use this backed up data to more easily gain access to the websites you've enabled 2FA on.

This becomes even more of an issue if you use Google's new password manager feature, as it would allow anyone with access to your Google account to also know your passwords as well.

Alternatives like Authy has a feature to encrypt your account and its data with a passphrase. So even if a malicious actor gained access to it, they would still need to know your passphrase in order to decrypt your 2FA codes.

So if you have received the update to version 6.0 of Google Authenticator, I can't recommend that you enable this feature right now.
After you get the new update, you'll be prompted to connect your account to the application.

So if you use Google Authenticator and you get this update, tell the app that you want to continue using it without an account.

You'll keep all of your codes in place and can still use the app as you normally would.
This just instructs the app to not back up your 2FA codes to your Google account.

Google has said that they do plan on adding end-to-end encryption in a future update, but that still leaves them with needing to add a passphrase to encrypt your codes before it can be recommended to anyone who values their online security.

Thankfully, Google Authenticator still has a way to transfer your 2FA codes to another device. I have done a video about this in the past and will link to it in the video description below for anyone who wants to know how that is done.

But until the app gets a way to encrypt your codes with a passphrase, keeping this feature disabled still makes it difficult to use if you end up losing your smartphone or getting locked out of it.

It's disappointing to see Google drop the ball is such a significant way with this update.
They refused to add this feature for years due to the security implications and they went ahead and did it anyway.

Hopefully we see the app receive a proper update in the future that adds enough security protections to make it a viable competitor to other apps like Authy.
Mentioned Links
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Google Authenticator Import / Export - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_QKHDoCx6o
Step by Step Tutorial
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1. Intro [00:00]
2. Google Authenticator Announcement [00:48]
3. Why Not? [01:49]
4. Use Google Authenticator Safely [03:18]
5. Future Updates [04:32]
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Видео You Should Not Use the New Google Authenticator Account Backup Feature Right Now канала Explaining Android