Steam Guard
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Steam is testing two-factor authentication through its mobile app
Valve currently offers two-factor authentication on desktop via "Steam Guard," which sends a unique code via email. Now it's offering players the option of receiving that code through the Steam app instead. The feature is called "Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator" and it's live now for a selection of Android beta testers. If you want in, you'll need to join this Steam group and hope Valve takes a fancy to your username. Once selected, you should see the new "Get Steam Guard codes from my phone" option inside the app. Otherwise, you'll just have to hang tight -- Valve can be a tad slow to update its mobile apps, but eventually this security feature should be available to everyone.
PSA: Steam Guard now available to all Steam users
The Steam Guard system (which uses identity tech to warn you when anyone tries to log in to your Steam account from a different computer) is now available for all users, according to the official website. Previously, it was only being tested by certain users (including Gabe Newell, who even posted his password online during GDC), but now anyone with a Steam account can give it a try. To use the service, you just need to update Steam to the latest version, make sure you have a verified email associated with your account, then just restart Steam. Then, any time you log in from a new computer, Steam will send an email with a code that you'll need to enter to use the service. If you get an email for a computer you didn't log in from, someone else is trying to access your account. Pretty easy -- now no one will be able to play with your Torchlight characters but you.
Steam Guard gets the ultimate test: Gabe Newell makes his password public
How secure is Steam Guard? Valve's Gabe Newell must think it's pretty darn airtight, because he posted his Steam account email and password for the world to see during GDC.
Valve introduces Steam Guard to fight account phishing and hijacking
What's Steam's "number one support issue" according to Valve's Gabe Newell? "Account phishing and hijacking," says the boss. In an effort to combat the theft of digital goods, Valve has announced Steam Guard, a new service that allows users to restrict account management to a specific Intel-powered PC. Using Intel Identity Protection Technology (IPT), a hardware-based feature available in second generation Intel Core processors, Steam Guard users will be notified whenever a different PC attempts to log into or modify their account settings. This should give Steam users "the account security they need as they purchase more and more digital goods," said the filthy rich Newell. Because Steam Guard is hardware-reliant, the service will not be available to all Steam users. Still, Valve's Doug Lombardi expects "to see widespread adoption of hardware-based security like Intel IPT by other service providers" in the future. "If as a customer you are buying movies, music, games, or digital goods, you want to know that they are more secure than your physical goods."
