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Indeed, it looks like this feature was added in April 2023: https://security.googleblog.com/2023/04/google-authenticator-now-supports.html https://security.goog
by rectang 2y ago
Indeed, it looks like this feature was added in April 2023: https://security.googleblog.com/2023/04/google-authenticator-now-supports.html https://security.googleblog.com/2023/04/google-authenticator...
I still have Google Authenticator on my phone, but I hadn't been using it. I see that you now must choose between using it "with an account", in which case your codes are saved "to your account", or using it without an account. I just installed Google Authenticator onto my tablet, selected that I would "continue as [Google Account]), and voila, there are all my codes.
I presume that if you use it "without an account", the codes are not backed up, although I'm not going to test that now.
I am curious what backed up "to your account" means. I'm often logged into Google on my laptop — is it possible to access the TOTP codes from there? If my laptop is hacked it would be a disaster, and I at least want to reduce the blast radius so that accounts requiring MFA are out of reach to the hacker unless they also hack my phone or tablet.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- rectang 2y ago(replying to myself after some further research...) Issues for me with Google Authenticator: 1. The cloud backups are not encrypted: https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity_help/comments/1fysqij/google_authenticator_end_to_end_encrypted/ https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity_help/comments/1fysqij... 2. There's a strong possibility that if my laptop gets compromised my Google account will be compromised simultaneously. 3. I try (often in vain) to limit my Google exposure because if I lose access to my Google account, it will be hard to get it back due of Google's limited support offerings.