There are plenty of examples to talk about when it comes to losing control of an email account and inadvertently sending spam to others. Hence, everyone knows how important it is to secure the activities online. And Google is no exception. Like many other service providers, it has been always exploring new technologies and methods to make its users online experience more secure.

 Building on that tradition, Google is now offering an advanced sign-in security feature for Google Accounts called 2-step verification. While many are familiar with 1-step verification, which requires a username and password to sign in, 2-step verification adds an extra layer of security to the Google account. Consequently, Google’s advanced security requires two factors for authentication: username and password, plus a unique code generated by user’s mobile phone.

Google said that it was an extra step, but it significantly improves the security of user’s Google Account. In the official Google blog, Harry Wingo, policy counsel, said, “Now, if someone steals or guesses your password, the potential hijacker still can’t sign in to your account because he doesn’t have your phone.” Google first rolled out 2-step verification for Google Apps customers last year, and now it is bringing the same advanced protection to all its users.

According to the official company blog post, the extra step significantly improves the security of Google Account because it requires the powerful combination of both something you know—your username and password—and something that only you should have—your phone. A hacker would need access to both of these factors to gain access to your account, said the blogger.