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Google 2-Step Verification (two-factor authentication) for your account

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Why are we implementing 2FA for Google Workspace (G Suite)?

Google 2-step verification or Two-Factor Authentication (2FA/MFA) is a security measure which includes the process of secure Authentication and verifying identity in which a user or an organisational employee has to provide two factors to gain the access to Google (G Suite) Cloud Data. Gsuite 2-step verification or Gsuite 2fa starts with the user submitting his traditional username & password. Once the user successfully verifies the identity and gets authenticated with the 1st step verification, The second configured 2FA (OTP over SMS, Push Notifications, Google Authenticator etc) method prompts on for 2nd-step verification. After successfully signing in with both of the steps a user is granted access to the Google (G Suite) account. This additional verification layer acts as a security measure and prevents unauthorized people from accessing the Google account by verifying your identity even if cyber attackers get to know your credentials. You can also restrict your access based on location, time of access, and number of devices with the minOrange adaptive authentication solution for Gsuite and other apps.

How miniOrange will help with Google 2-step verification (2FA)?

miniOrange provides 15+ authentication methods as a security measure and solutions for various apps/websites including Google 2-step verification. It allows users and organizations to set up certain authentication & settings to verify identity which includes password restrictions, restricting sign-in methods, as well as other security settings. With miniOrange, you can configure TOTP based methods (Google Authenticator/Microsoft Authenticator, Authy Authenticator) as well as Push Notification, OTP over SMS/Email and many more as mfa methods for your Gsuite account. Apart from that, you can also add 2fa on multiple applications used by your organization.

Follow the Step-by-Step Guide given below for Google Workspace (G Suite) Single Sign-On (SSO) and 2-step verification

1. Configure Google Workspace (G Suite) in miniOrange

• Login into miniOrange Admin Console.
• Go to Apps and click on Add Application button.



• In Choose Application, select SAML/WS-FED from the application type dropdown.



• Search for Google Workspace (G Suite) in the list, if you don't find Google Workspace (G Suite) in the list then, search for custom and you can set up your application in Custom SAML App.

• Enter the SP Entity ID or Issuer as google.com.
• Enter your Domain name that you uses with the Google Workspace.
• Enter the Single Logout URL as https://mail.google.com/a/out/tld/?logout.
• From the Provisioning tab, enter the Domain Administrator in Google Workspace (G Suite) Administrator field and click on "Verify Google Workspace Administrator" to verify if the domain entered is of administrator (this is an optional field).



• Click on Save.
• Leave the Attributes section empty.
• Go to the Login Policy and select DEFAULT from the Group Name dropdown.
• Now enter the name for your app authentication policy in the Policy Name field.
• Select Password from the Login Method dropdown.
• Click on Save to add Google Workspace (G Suite).



• In Applications, search for the configured app.
• From the Actions menu (three dots) next to your app, click Edit.



• Get the ACS URL from Step 2, then click Save.




Get IdP Metadata Details to upload to Google Workspace:

• Go to Apps >> under Applications.
• Search for your app and click on the three dot in Actions menu against your app.
• Click on Metadata to get metadata details, which will be required later. Click on Show SSO Link to see the IDP initiated SSO link for Google Workspace (G Suite).



• Here you will see 2 options, if you are setting up miniOrange as IDP copy the metadata details related to miniOrange, if you required to be authenticated via external IDP's (OKTA, AZURE AD, ADFS, ONELOGIN, GOOGLE WORKSPACE) you can get metadata from the 2nd Section as shown below.



• Keep SAML Login URL and click on the Download Certificate button to download certificate which you will require in Step 2.

2. Configure SSO in Google Workspace (G Suite)

• Now, log into Google Admin Console.
• Go to Security > Authentication > SSO with third-party IdP.
• In the Third-party SSO profiles section, click Add SAML Profile.



• For SAML SSO Profile, enter a profile name.



• In the IdP details section, provide the following information:
  • Sign-In Page URL: SAML Login URL from Step 1.
  • Sign-Out Page URL: <Base Server URL>/idp/oidc/logout?post_logout_redirect_uri=https://gmail.com
    
    Example: https://login.xecurify.com/moas/idp/oidc/logout?post_logout_redirect_uri=https://gmail.com
  • Change Password URL: SAML Login URL from Step 1.
• Upload the certificate by clicking Upload Certificate (from Step 1).
• Click Save.



• After saving, copy the ACS URL. You will need this when configuring Google Workspace in miniOrange.



• Your Google SSO SAML integration is complete.



2.1. Assign SSO profile to organizational units or groups:




If you want some of your users to sign in to Google directly, you can move those users into an organizational unit (OU) or group. Then, manage SSO settings for the OU or group so that those users are authenticated by Google rather than using your third-party IdP. Follow the following steps:

• If you want all your (non-super admin) users to sign in using a third-party IdP : You don't need to manage.
• If you want some of your users to sign in to Google directly : Click Manage SSO profile assignments and continue to the next step.
  • If you are assigning the SSO profile for the first time, then click Get started. Otherwise, click Manage. Note: Get started is only available if you’ve already enabled your third-party SSO profile.
  
  
  
  
  • Select the organizational unit or group for which you’re assigning the SSO profile from the left.
    Note: If the SSO profile assignment for an OU or group differs from your domain-wide profile assignment, an
override warning appears when you select that OU or group. You can’t assign the SSO profile on a per-user
basis. The Users view let you check the setting for a specific user.
    
  
  
  
  • Choose Organization's third Party SSO Profile if you want your users in the OU or group to sign in to Google services using the IdP designated in your domain’s third-party SSO profile.
  • Choose None if you want your users in the OU or group to sign in directly with Google.
  • Then click Save.

2.2. To turn SSO off for all users:

If you want to turn off the third-party authentication for all your users without changing the SSO profile assignment for OUs or groups, you can disable the third-party SSO profile:

• Uncheck Set up SSO with third-party identity provider.
• Click Save.

3. Configure 2FA for Google Workspace (G Suite)

3.1: Enable 2FA for Users of Google Workspace (G Suite) app

• To enable 2FA for Users of Google Workspace (G Suite) application. Go to Policies >> App Login Policy
• Click on Edit icon against the application you have configured.



• Check the Enable 2-Factor Authentication (MFA) option.



• Click on Submit.

3.2: Configure 2FA for your Endusers

• To enable 2FA/MFA for endusers, go to 2-Factor Authentication >> 2FA Options For EndUsers.
• Select default Two-Factor authentication method for end users. Also, you can select particular 2FA methods, which you want to show on the end users dashboard.
• Once Done with the settings, click on Save to configure your 2FA settings.

3.3: Enduser 2FA Setup

• Login to End-User Dashboard using end user login URL.
• For Cloud Version: The login URL (branding url) which you have set.
• For On-Premise version: The login URL will be the same as of Admin Login URL.
• Select Setup 2FA from left panel. Then select any of the 2FA method available.
• For now, we have selected the SMS >> OTP OVER SMS as our 2FA method. You can explore the guide to setup other 2FA methods here.
• Enable the OTP over SMS if you have your phone number added under your account information else click on Edit >> Click here to update your phone number link.



• In Account Information, click on edit icon.



• Select your country code, enter your mobile number, and click Send OTP.



• Enter the OTP sent to your phone and click Validate.



• After adding your phone number, turn on the toggle to activate OTP over SMS.



• Now Enable 2 Factor Authentication toggle if not done before as shown below.

4. Test Google Workspace (G Suite) 2FA

a. If 2FA for for End-user is configured

• Go to your Google Workspace (G Suite) Domain. It will redirect you to miniOrange Single Sign-On Service console.



• Enter your login credentials, and click on login. It will prompt to verify yourself against the configured 2fa method.
  e.g. If you have configured OTP over SMS, after login into Google Workspace (G Suite) it will prompt for OTP.



• Enter the OTP received in your phone, after successful 2fa verification, you will be redirected to the Google Workspace (G Suite) dashboard.

b. If 2FA for end-user is not enabled

• You will be prompted to register for 2Fa for end-user. It's a one time process.
• Configure your basic details.



• Configure any authentication method of your choice.



• After successful registration, you will be logged in to your Google Workspace (G Suite) account.


Not able to configure or test MFA?


Contact us or email us at idpsupport@xecurify.com and we'll help you setting it up in no time.

5. Adaptive Authentication with Google Workspace (G Suite)

A. Restricting access to Google Workspace (G Suite) with IP Configuration

You can use adaptive authentication with Google Workspace (G Suite) Single Sign-On (SSO) to improve the security and functionality of Single Sign-On. You can allow a IP Address in certain range for SSO or you can deny it based your requirements and you can also challenge the user to verify his authenticity. Adaptive authentication manages the user authentication bases on different factors such as Device ID, Location, Time of Access, IP Address and many more.

You can configure Adaptive Authentication with IP Blocking in following way :

• Login to Self Service Console >> Adaptive Authentication >> Add Policy.



• Add a Policy Name for your Adative Authentication Policy.
• Select Action for Behavior Change, click the Edit link, and then choose the appropriate Action and Challenge Type for the user from that section.





Action for behavior Change Options :




Attribute	Description
Allow	Allow users to authenticate and use services if Adaptive authentication condition is true.
Challenge	Deny user authentications and access to services if Adaptive authentication condition is true.
Deny	Challenge users with one of the three methods mentioned below for verifying user authenticity.




Challenge Type Options :




Attribute	Description
User second Factor	The User needs to authenticate using the second factor he has opted or assigned for such as OTP over SMS PUSH Notification OTP over Email and, many more.
KBA (Knowledge-based authentication)	The System will ask the user for 2 of 3 questions he has configured in his Self-Service Console. Only after the right answer to both questions is the user allowed to proceed further.
OTP over Alternate Email	User will receive an OTP on the alternate email they have configured through the Self Service Console. Once the user provides the correct OTP, they are allowed to proceed further.



• Now click Edit option from the IP Configuration section to configure custom IP range.
• Select Add IP if the User's IP Address is not in the configured list.
• Specify the IP Address that you want to whitelist. For the IP Range other than the whitelisted one, you can select the above setting to reflect.
• Choose either allow or deny by selecting the corresponding option from the dropdown.
• If a user tries to login with the whitelisted IP address, they will always be allowed access.
• We support IP address range in three formats i.e., IPv4, IPv4 CIDR, and IPv6 CIDR. You can choose whichever is suitable for you from the dropdown menu.
• You can add multiple IPs or IP ranges by clicking the + Add IP button.



• Once the changes are made, scroll down to the end and click on Save.

B. Adaptive Authentication with Limiting number of devices

Using Adaptive Authentication you can also restrict the number of devices the end user can access the Services on. You can allow end users to access services on a fixed no. of devices. The end users will be able to access services provided by us on this fixed no. of devices.

You can configure Adaptive Authentication with Device Restriction in following way


• Login to Self Service Console >> Adaptive Authentication >> Add Policy.
• Add a Policy Name for your Adaptive Authentication Policy.
• Select your Action for behavior Change and Challenge Type for user from the Action for behavior Change Section.



• On the Add Policy tab, go to the Device Configuration section and click the Edit button.
• Enter the Number of Device Registrations Allowed as per your requirement. (2-3 devices are recommended.)
• Choose Action if number of devices exceeded (This will override your setting for Action for behavior Change.)
• Challenge: The user needs to verify himself using any of the three methods mentioned in table in step 5.1
• Deny : Deny users access to the system
• Enable Mobile Device Restriction to block logins from mobile devices. This ensures all login attempts from mobile devices will be declined.
• Enable MAC Address Based Restriction if you want to restrict access based on device MAC address.



• Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Save.

C. Add Adaptive Authentication policy to Google Workspace (G Suite)

• Login to Self Service Console >> Policies >> Add Login Policy.
• Click on Edit icon option for predefined app policy.



• Set your policy in the Policy Name and select Password as First Factor.
• Enable Adaptive Authentication on Edit Login Policy page and select the required restriction method as an option.
• From Select Login Policy dropdown select the policy we created in last step and click on Submit.

D. Notification and Alert Message.

This section handles the notifications and alerts related to Adaptive Authentication. It provides the following options :

• Get email alerts if users login from unknown devices or locations: Admins need to enable this option to enable receiving alerts for different alert options.
  
  
  

Option	Description
Users login from unknown IP addresses, devices or locations	Enabling this option allows you to login from unknown IP addresses or devices and even locations.
Number of Device registrations exceeded allowed count	This option will allow you to register more devices than the devices you have numbered.
Challenge Completed and Device Registered	Enabling this option allows you to send an email alert when an end-user completes a challenge and registers a device.
Challenge Completed but Device Not Registered	Enabling this option allows you to send an email alert when an end-user completes a challenge but do not registers the device.
Challenge Failed	Enabling this option allows you to send an email alert when an end-user fails to complete the challenge.




• Next subsection is Send email alerts which allows us to enable or disable alerts for admin and end-users. To enable alerts for admins, you can enable the Administrators checkbox.



• In case you want multiple admin accounts to receive alerts, then you can enable the option for admin and then enter the admin emails separated by a ‘,’ in the input field next to Administrator’s email to receive alerts label. To enable alerts for the end users, you can enable the End User checkbox.
• In case you want to customize the deny message that the end user receives in case his authentication is denied due to adaptive policy, you can do this by entering the message inside Deny Message text box.

How to add a trusted Device

• When End-user log in to the self service console after the policy for device restriction is on, he is provided the option to add the current device as a trusted device.

External References

• Know more about Two-Step Verification (2FA)
  
• Looking for SSO and two-step verification (2FA) based Sign in for other Google Workspace
  
• Google Account Provisioning Solution
  
• Google 2-step verification (2fa/mfa) docs
  
• Know about Step-Up Authentication