Effective since May 1, 2012.
Products Affected: All Google account based services
Upon attempting to log-in to my Google account while away from home, I was
presented with a message that required me to confirm various details about
my account in order to ensure I was a legitimate user and not just someone
who came across my username and password. Unable to remember what my phone
number from 2004 was, I looked for a way around it.
The questions presented to me were:
Complete the email address: a******g () gmail com
Complete the phone number: (425) 4**-***7
Since this was presented to me, I was certain I had my username and password
correct.
From there, I simply went to check my email via IMAP at the new location.
I was immediately granted access to my email inboxes with no trouble.
From there, I attempted to log-in to my Google account with the same
username and password.
To my surprise, I was not presented with any questions to confirm my
identity.
This completes the steps required to bypass this account hijacking
counter-measure.
This just goes to show that even the largest corporations that employ teams
of security experts, can also overlook very simple issues.
