Google is about to make it mandatory for Nest users to use two-factor authentication (2FA) when logging into their Nest accounts.
The search giant had given pre-warning back in February that this would be the case and an email that is hitting users inboxes now, confirms the move will be happening this month.
The email reads:
"When signing in, you’ll be asked to verify your identity with a six-digit code sent to your email. That code will be used to make sure that it’s you trying to log in. Without it, you won’t be able to access your account. This will greatly reduce the likelihood of an unauthorised person gaining access to your Nest account, even if they have your username and password."
Over on the Google help pages, a Google employee notes that one way you can avoid this is to migrate your Nest account to a Google one.
Google announced it was killing the Works with Nest platform in May 2019, with the service being officially spiked at the end of August 2019.
Although Google loosened its stance that all Works with Nest integrations would stop working immediately, it has warned users that if they don't migrate to a Google account they’ll miss out on features like suspicious activity detection, 2-Step verification and security checkup; as well as a less faffy way of getting your Nest devices working with other Google services – think camera footage on a Home Hub or Android TV, for example.
However, if you do move over to a Google account, your Works with Nest connections will stop working straight away and you won’t be able to revert back.
Therefore, before migrating you might also want to check what other Works with Nest integrations you have to make sure it’s definitely the right move for you.
If you do want to stick with your Nest account, 2FA isn't actually a bad thing - it will make your Nest account more secure and you should only have to go through the process once on each device you use to log into your account.