You can now shore up your
smart home security by leveraging Google's top security offering
Google has
announced that its Advanced Protection Program (APP) is now available for Nest
smart home devices. People could previously use their Google account with
either APP or Nest devices, but not both at the same time.
The update
has been high on the wish list of Google’s userbase, Shuvo Chatterjee, APP
product manager, wrote in a blog post on Monday.
“Since we
launched, one of our goals has been to bring Advanced Protection’s features to
other Google products. Over the years, we’ve incorporated many of them into
GSuite, Google Cloud Platform, Chrome, and most recently, Android,” said
Chatterjee, adding that Google wanted as many people as possible to benefit
from the extra security provided by the program.
The addition
of APP is the latest in a slew of security features that have been rolled out
to the popular line of connected devices following reports
of hijackings of multiple Nest devices and vulnerabilities in Nest security
cameras.
Two-factor authentication has become mandatory
for Nest owners who haven’t turned on this option or migrated to a Google
account. Meanwhile, reCAPTCHA Enterprise was added to lower the likelihood of
automated attacks, and login notifications were rolled out to the platform back
in December.
Launched in
2017, APP is mainly aimed at people who are at a high risk of targeted
attacks due to the nature of their work – journalists, activists, business
leaders, and political campaign teams. However, you don’t have to be a member
of any of those groups to beef up your Google account security. Anyone
interested in added protection against phishing, malware and fraudulent access to their data can
sign up.
To enroll in
the program, you have two options: either use two physical security keys,
including one as a backup, or a smartphone. The phone needs to run Android 7.0
or higher or iOS 10.0 or above. While Android phones have the security key built in, iPhone users have to install the
“Google Smart Lock” app. Even so, Google recommends that you
should add a hardware token, such as its own Titan Security Key, as a backup in case your
phone goes missing.