Google adds Advanced Protection Programme to Nest devices

Google's Advanced Protection Programme is designed to give an extra layer of security to anyone who is at "high risk" of being targeted online, such as activists, business leaders, politicians, and journalists.

It requires physical security keys, one of which has to be used with a password to access the user's account, and restricts most outside access to a Google account, blocking unknown apps and fraudulent attempts to access an account.

"Today we are announcing one of the top requests we've received: to bring the Advanced Protection Programme to Nest. Now people can seamlessly use their Google Accounts with both Advanced Protection and Google Nest devices -- previously, a user could use their Google Account on only one of these at a time," the company said in a statement.

To enroll in Advanced Protection, users need two physical security keys - a main and a backup - and a phone running Android 7 or higher or iOS 10.0 or higher.

Added security means the Nest is more secure than ever before - it's important because Nest has been prone to security issues.

Besides mandating two-factor authentication, Google recently implemented reCAPTCHA Enterprise, a technology designed to guard against automated attacks, for non-migrated Nest accounts.