In a session today at SXSW Yahoo showed it still has the ability to innovate with the introduction of new initiatives set to make its email platform more secure and simplify its email service. Yahoo believes that the ideas behind the new initiatives which include an ‘on-demand password’ feature and an end-to-end encryption (e2e) plugin for Yahoo Mail will create the foundation and attraction it requires to meet the pace set by the leading email providers.
The on-demand password which is billed as a technique to eliminate the possibility of forgetting one’s password and also enhance mail security works with this simple but effective principle. Yahoo mail users now have the option of receiving passwords via SMS to their mobile phones whenever it is needed. The ‘on-demand password’ feature is now available and Yahoo mail users can take advantage of it following these steps provided by Yahoo Tumblr:
1) Sign in to your Yahoo.com account.
2) Click on your name at the top right corner to go to your account information page.
3) Select “Security” in the left bar.
4) Click on the slider for “On-demand passwords” to opt-in.
5) Enter your phone number and Yahoo will send you a verification code.
6) Enter the code and voila!
And the next time you sign-in, we’ll send a password to your phone when you need it to log in.
The on-demand password is just the first step in Yahoo’s plans to secure its email platform. According to Dylan Casey, Yahoo’s vice president of product management, the company plans to integrate a user-authentication method sometime this year.
As for the end-to-end (e2e) encryption plugin, The Next Web reports that it is designed for more specialized uses such as sharing private documents or sending and receiving email in nations with repressive political regulations. For now these features, have been made available to Yahoo Mail users residing only in the US.
TechSpective will continue to provide updates as the roll-out continues. Stay tuned. Let us know what you think of these new email security measures from Yahoo in the comments below. Do you use Yahoo Mail? Do these new security controls make you more or less likely to do so?
…And in the words of Anton Checkov, Engineering is my wife while writing is my mistress. I am a webmaster who also writes Afrocentric articles on my blog. (www.omnicorpseo.com) and loves football. Finally, I can’t go without saying hi to my wife…so, “Hi dear” and Hi All!
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