Google Offers A Very Important Security Feature, And You Should Enable It Right Away

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Over the weekend, several celebrity accounts were hacked, and nude photos of them were leaked online.

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There could have been many ways that the hackers might have gained access to the photos, including via iCloud, as well as other cloud services, such Google Drive.

In a statement, Apple said, "To protect against this type of attack, we advise all users to always use a strong password and enable two-step verification."

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Two-step verification is a way for websites to verify that you are who you say you are when you try to log in. Once you set it up, the site will often text you a verification code when it notices that you're trying to log in from a new computer.

In addition to iCloud, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Tumblr offer two-step verification.

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And turning it on for your Google accounts is dead simple (and if you're using an Android phone, you can set it up right from your device). Here's how to do it:

Go to your account settings page.

Google account

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Click on Security.

Google security

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Click on where it says "Setup" to set up 2-step verification.

Google 2 step

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It will then ask you to which phone number you'd like to send your authentication code.

Google phone code

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Google will then text or call you with a code. Enter it on the next screen.

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Google phone verify

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You're almost done! Google will then ask you to verify that the computer you're using is a trusted machine.

Google trusted computer

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And finally, you'll be asked if you want to turn on 2-factor authentication. Click "Confirm."

Google 2-factor confirm

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Some apps don't work with 2-factor authentication, such as Mail on your iPhone or iPad. If you get an error that says something is wonky with your password, you can use a specific app-specific password, which Google will generate and provide.

You don't have to memorize the 16-digit code, either. You'll usually just have to enter the special code once per app.