TeamViewer Adds Two New Security Features After User Complaints

TeamViewer says in an open letter to its customers that it is introducing two new security measures to prevent abuse of accounts. Over the past week, there have been many reports of users being robbed via TeamViewer.

The two security measures are ‘Trusted Devices’ and ‘Data Integrity’, the German company writes. The first function ensures that a user has to mark a new device as ‘trusted’ if someone wants to log in to it for the first time with an existing account. Users can grant this approval by clicking a link in an automatically generated email.

The second new feature monitors accounts and checks for “abnormal usage.” This can occur, for example, if a login attempt is made from an unknown IP address. If the system determines that there are indeed abnormalities, the password of the account in question will be reset. Users will then receive a message with instructions on how to reset the password.

TeamViewer acknowledges in the open letter that unauthorized access to accounts has taken place through its software and that users have lost money as a result, for example. The company claims that many data breaches have recently become known and that the stolen login details have been used to penetrate TeamViewer accounts. The company is referring to data breaches such as LinkedIn, Tumblr and MySpace. Security researcher Troy Hunt offered a similar explanation for the thefts on Thursday.

Over the past week, many TeamViewer users complained that strangers were logged into their accounts and ordered gift cards and products via eBay and Amazon, among other things, often for large amounts. Users with two-factor authentication and strong passwords also claimed to be affected. TeamViewer denies that there is a data breach in its own systems. The company still recommends that users use unique passwords and two-factor authentication.