Apple on Thursday announced that it has expanded its Apple ID two-step verification feature’s availability to 48 countries around the world, bringing the total to 59 countries, up from 11.
The Two-step verification security feature makes use of a “trusted” device to verify a user’s identity in addition to a password. Users while logging into certain Apple services will be required to verify their identity by entering a 4-digit PIN which the company sends to the trusted device in order to continue the login process.
Users will have to go through the verification process while making any changes to their account or while making an iTunes and App Store purchase from a new device. This Two-step verification feature reduces the risk of accounts being compromised.
The Two-step verification, first launched in March of 2013, was initially rolled out to users in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, but was expanded to several other countries later in 2013.
China, France, India, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Thailand, Switzerland, and many more countries across Asia, South America, and Europe are some of the countries added to the availability list. The full list of 48 countries to get the two-step verification feature is available in the Apple’s support page.
The Cupertino is also believed to be testing the two-step verification for iCloud.com apps and services. However, it is still unclear when the feature, currently exclusive only for the Apple ID, will be officially available for iCloud.
