Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Ring Upgrades Account Security, In Welcome Move

Santa Monica-based security doorbell and camera maker Ring, which is part of Amazon, has upgraded its account security features, announcing a major upgrade to its privacy, security, and control features. Ring said that, among other upgrades, it will now require "two-factor" authentication for all of its users when they log into their Ring accounts. Ring said that with every login of a Ring account, users will receive a one time, six-digit code in order gain access to an account. The enabling of two-factor authentication should eliminate the widespread camera takeovers that had plagued Ring over the last few months, where poor password practices by its users had resulted in numerous high-profile hacks of its hardware. The addition of two-factor authentication was one of the recommendations of third party security experts in response to those high profile hacks. Ring also is providing login notifications to its users--a feature it launched in December--and also provided new tools to manage third party service providers.