My Gmail account is my hub to connecting with the world. While I do have a number of other emails for business purposes, I actually use Gmail to handle them all. This makes things nice and simple, as opposed to logging into separate sites, or dealing with a desktop application like Outlook. I’m probably too dependent on it, and would be a bit lost if someone managed to hack into my account and lock me out.

Google understands how much we can rely on their services, and they want to make sure that our accounts stay secure. The company is rolling out two-step authentication to all users. This optional feature will require not only your password to login, but also a special code that is generated by the Google Authenticator app on your smartphone. Once generated, the code is only good for a matter of seconds, so there’s no chance that someone will be able to hack your account using an old number. Once it has been entered on a computer, it won’t ask for the code again (on that computer) for another 30 days. While it is an extra step, it’s definitely worth taking if you value the contents of your Google account.