Ride the Lightning
Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
Sign Into Your Google Account on a Public Computer Using a QR Code
January 19, 2012
Gotta love Lifehacker. Always coming up with something new. I really loved the recent post about signing on to your Google account on a public computer securely. As you probably know, those hotel and cyber cafe computers are often rife with spyware.
But here's a great workaround. Point the insecure computer's browser at accounts.google.com/sesame. Now pull out your smartphone, open any app capable of reading QR codes (Google Goggles for example) and take a shot of the QR code that is generated at accounts.google.com/sesame. When your phone's browser (which will need to be signed into your Google account) visits the URL encoded in the QR code, that will tell Google's servers that you're at this computer, and the browser of the insecure computer will log you into your Google account without any typing on your part. Magic time.
Of course, you have to be logged into your Google account on your phone, but we hope your phone is more secure. And, as Lifehacker points out, make sure you log off!
Listen to the Podcast
