Google Replacing SMS With QR Codes for Gmail Authentication

You'll soon see a big change in how your Gmail account is secured and your two-factor authenticated logins are handled. Google has said it's planning to stop sending 2FA codes via text message to verify Gmail accounts in favor of security tools such as passkeys and QR codes that you would scan with your device. Google says SMS messaging for 2FA has become increasingly problematic, as reported earlier by Forbes, as scammers and fraudsters use the technology to spoof user accounts. Ross Richendrfer, head of security and privacy public relations at Google, confirmed this to CNET. He said Google will be "reimagining" how the company verifies phone numbers. Gmail and other Google services will shift from texting six-digit codes over SMS to sending a QR code that a user can verify. "Just like we want to move past passwords with the use of things like passkeys, we want to move away from sending SMS messages for authentication," Richendrfer said. The goal would be to eliminate instances of ... Read full article.