Friday, December 23, 2011

take on the gmail 2 step verification

I recently signed up for the new 2-step verification for GMAIL to give me some security.   It basically means that when you sign into a computer from a machine which you don't usually use, that you need to enter a second password which gets sent to you as a text similar to the way many people in corporate America use the toggles. It's a great concept and would give you some feeling of security knowing it would be much more difficult to hack your account but here is a scenario which I think GMAIL has overlooked . 

 You and your new bride are travelling in Costa Rica spending nights in fancy hotels overlooking the cloud-forest, Volcano Arenal and the hot springs.   Everything is going swimmingly when all of a sudden you realize that you can't find your bag which included your wallet, your passport and your brand new white IPhone 4s after a night of heavy booze and marathon sex.     You need to get in touch with your friends in Staten Island to help you get back to the States but without a phone you can't call, text or email.    You search high and low and finally find an internet café, go to gmail.com and log-on.   The problem is they ask you for the 2nd verification code which of course was sent to your brand-new white IPhone 4s and now there is no way to log onto your account and thus no-way to get in touch with your friend with too much chest-hair, too little humility and too much weight around his midsection.

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