In the wake of a string of successful hacking attacks on Twitter, and growing concern over the security provided by traditional passwords, Apple has expanded its own two-step verification program to include communities across the globe.
The program, which launched in March of this year, is now available to users with an Apple ID in Canada, Mexico, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Austria, Brazil and various other countries. Previously, Apple's two-step verification was only available in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
Apple hasn't commented on the expansion, but the move further establishes two-step verification as a new security standard among major, and information sensitive, tech companies.
"Apple takes customer privacy very seriously, and two-step verification is an even more robust process to ensure our user's data remains protected," Apple stated when it first introduced its two-step verification program. "We are now offering our users the choice to take advantage of this additional layer of security."
Two-step verification aims to prevent hackers from gaining remote access a user's account by requiring a user to enter a randomly generated code sent to them through an owned device, like a phone.
But Apple's two-step program comes too late for journalist Mat Honan, who was targeted, and had his digital life destroyed, by hackers last year. The attack, as Honan details in Wired, was emotionally devastating, and started when his iCloud account was compromised.
Apple reviewed its security measures after Honan's ordeal, eventually releasing its two-step verification program to prevent similar events. Other software companies, such as Evernote and Twitter, announced plan to ad the security measure later this year.
Apple's two-step verification will require users to enter both their password and a four-digit passcode sent to the user's "trusted device" through either a text message or a Find My iPhone notification. Apple's two-step verification first requires users to verify their trusted device through the Find My iPhone application.
Apple's security measure will activate when users try to make digital purchases either on a computer or a mobile device. It'll also activate when users make changes to an account or when they request a password reset.
But two-step verification, according to Now Associations, isn't a fool-proof way to prevent hackers from compromising accounts. Such security measures will do little if a hacker gains access to user's physical device (not hard to imagine, considering Apple products are often targeted for theft), or if they can convince a customer service personel to forward sensitive information, like they did with Honan.
