dropbox
If you’re a regular DropBox user, you may have noticed that your inbox has been full of spam this summer. Well, DropBox noticed it too (they had it pointed out to them by a lot of unhappy people), and they say they have fixed the problem.
The cloud-based file storage company added a new two-step login process in late August that is designed to thwart would-be hackers. For now, at least, it is an optional feature. Users who want to add this measure will find it after they log into their DropBox accounts and go to the Security section of their Settings.
Users then have the option to enable the two-step verification process by re-entering their password and choosing to receive a security code either by text message or through a mobile app.
DropBox users who choose the text message method will get a security code sent to their phone, which must be re-entered whenever accessing the site. Those who elect the mobile app option will get one-time use security codes through the app whenever they login.
The addition of these new measures comes after DropBox users started getting gambling and casino spam in their inboxes earlier this summer. After calling in a security firm to investigate, DropBox discovered their own security had been breached when a file belonging to a DropBox employee that contained users’ personal information was hacked.
Since going live in 2008, DropBox has collected roughly 50 million users with its popular cloud-based file storage service that lets people access documents from any computer or mobile device on which they have installed a DropBox folder. This summer’s hacking incident was a bit of a black eye for DropBox, but it’s not the first company to add a two-step authentication option – Google added a similar feature to its Gmail service last year.
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