How To Enable Second Sign-In Verification For Your Yahoo! Account

Yahoo! introduced a new verification system called Second Sign-in Verification which aims to prevent account hijackers with a stolen password from accessing a user’s account. By enabling this feature, users will be able to protect their accounts with ease.

At present, Second Sign-in Verification is available for users residing in Unites States, Canada, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, and the Philippines. This verification system will be available all worldwide by March 2012.

So, is it similar to Gmail’s two step verification? No. While Gmail’s two step verification asks you enter the verification code every time you try to sign-in, Yahoo!’s second sign in verification feature will ask only for suspicious log-in attempts.

How this works?

Once the feature is enabled, any suspicious log-in attempt will be challenged by this new verification system. For instance, if you try to sign-in to your account from a public PC or new browser other than the one that you used to enable second sign-in feature, you have to enter the verification code that will sent to your mobile or you have to answer for two secret questions. So, when someone tries to sign-in to your account, he/she will have to either enter the verification code or answer for secret questions.

How to enable Second Sign-In Verification:

Step 1: Visit this Second Sign-In Verification page and log-in with your Yahoo! ID.

Step 2: You will be taken to Set Up Second Sign-in Verification page where you need to tick Check this box to turn on the second sign-in verification and then select your county and enter mobile number and finally click Receive SMS to receive the confirmation message to your mobile.

Step 3: In the next page, you will be asked to enter the verification code that you received via SMS. Enter the code and click Verify Code button. If everything goes well, you will see “Success! “You’ve completed the second sign-in verification setup” message.

In this page, you will see two options:

a. Use either my security question or mobile phone number for verification.

b. Use only my mobile phone number for verification.

If you choose the first option (Use either my security question or mobile phone number for verification), you will have the option to choose one of the two verification methods to pass when you trigger the second sign-in verification (when you sign in from a new browser). Users who can’t rely on their mobile network can opt for this option. An option is also available to add more than one mobile numbers for one account.

To enable the first option, you will have to select two secret questions and then set answers for them.