Why is Teamviewer so user-unfriendly for logins now???

I have been using TeamViewer for many years.

Within the last few weeks, TV apparently decided that every single person that uses a Yahoo email address as a contact address is a "security risk". So they required me to change my password.

I'm an I.T. professional for over 20 years, I know what I'm doing with computers. Yeah, I get it - a bunch of dummies shared their Yahoo passwords with 100 other services and then Yahoo had a massive credentials breach and TV was blamed for it. I get it. But what they have done to make life miserable for someone like me who follows best I.T. security practices is like **bleep**.

I try to login but can't, am told credentials aren't valid. Huh?
Somewhere along the line I find a page that explains that you are forcing every Yahoo user to change their password. Fine.
I try changing my password. Can't because you "don't recognize this device". Well, I never really had a reason to login to your webpage before, I authenticate within the app. So you send me links to email, you force me through endless Captcha challenges, over and over and over. First when I first try to login, then again after I change the password, then again when I add the device, then again when I go to login again. Round and round and round and round and round and round. What are you doing???
Then the next time I try to login, I'm an alien again. "DO NOT RECOGNIZE THIS DEVICE". Oh, thanks a lot. You apparently try to either set a browser or flash cookie or HTML5 storage or use some sort of browser fingerprinting or something, but you don't document any of that, so someone like me, who is very picky abouit security and privacy practices, gets treated like a homeless person again and I can't use the service any more, once again. I assume because I am clearing browser cookies after the session is over (as I always do unless I have reason to do otherwise for a particular site), or because I am blocking "web-bugs" or browser fingerprinting techniques or flash cookies etc to prevent sites from abusing my privacy. So I get treated like homeless alien here.
So I thought I had all that sorted when I was forced to go through all of that a week ago, and then today I try to login and now I'm an unknown person again. What??? Oh great, more endless captchas!! :smileyfrustrated: :smileyfrustrated: :smileyfrustrated:

What is going on with you people? Are you trying to drive half your users away?

So sue me, I've got dozens of email addresses, I happened to pick a Yahoo one to use as a TV email address years ago. I don't even use that email address for using TV itself.

What are you going to do about this??

If the answer is "nothing", then what the heck are you expecting from a browser in order to identify it as a "trusted device", so I can make a special accomodation for this silly system so it doesn't treat me like a homeless alien every time I need to login or use the app?

Thank you.

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krugern

Is this a joke? Leaving TV because they focus on security?

Marcus2201

i don't know why they use catcha now ... for security ? about 40s to login ..
will not use Team Viewer now.
bye

freedomdwarf

I'm having similar issues.

No matter what I do, I'm sent to my emails to verify my device. Even to get onto this forum, I have to goto my emails to verify the very same device I using TV on! Every device I try to use with it sends me to my emails.When I'm on holiday, I don't have access to emails so if my daughter wanted help, she couldn't get it because I can't verify her device.

And what's with all the account creation and email addy's as well as ID and passwords?? What if I didn't want the other person knowing my email addy for TV?? Totally useless and unusable.

It's unnecessary and extremely tedious!!!

This is reviewed as one of the easiest and best remote software out there but compared to Winpop, it's a nightmare to setup and use!! So far, I have not managed to get 2 machines connected.

With Winpop, you install and it works right out of the box. No account creation needed, no logins, no passwords, just click, select machine, and click remote - it connects and it's all there.

Well..... after downloading TV13 and trying to make a connection for well over 2 hours, I give up. It's going in the bin.

daemon1

As an update, someone from teamviewer reached out to me directly. They have helped to resolve this by getting the emails to me so that I can reset the password and get signed in.

Thanks to Esther who was wonderful.

daemon1

I know the password, teamviewer just locked me out because the address is a yahoo email. They assume that all passwords are the same for all services.

A better way would be to recommend changing it. But then that would make sense.

mddsangster

I am in the same boat, except I know my password. It is the correct password. However, none of the computers/browsers seem to be trusted (much like the OP).

I can't change this, or enable two-factor authentication or any of the proposed solutions because these supposed verification emails never get received.

daemon1

In order to post this I had to create another account. The reason is that my account was locked out.

But then when using the reset password link it won't send me the email. So I have no way to reset the password. Support won't talk to me because I don't have a support contract. I have used this for years never had an issue and use insane passwords that are not shared on any other service.

If someone from the company can read this and support me in getting the password link so that I can reset my password. Again not for this account, another account that I have with you.

Frustrated and seething.

Eduardo

Dear DemandQuality,

Thank you very much for your post. We are glad to have you as an IT pro in our Community. As such you certainly know that it is not always easy to strike the right balance between ease of use on the one hand and security needs on the other.

It is correct that we enforced a significant password reset in the wake of the reported Yahoo account credentials spill. Our motivation was to protect our users as best as we can. Yet we are certainly aware that some of our users may consider this inconvenient as they need to generate new passwords for their TeamViewer account. However, we felt that – for the good of our entire user base – security needed priority there.

As an IT pro, you will most probably agree that IT security requires multiple layers to work best. And that is precisely what we have done by incorporating Captchas into the process. Because even though they may be perceived as a nuisance by some of our users they are a very efficient means to thwart unauthorized, machine-based access attempts.

As you may know, we recently introduced other security features to help us prevent cases of TeamViewer account abuse: The truth of the matter is that – while irksome to some of our users – the combination of these new features delivered comprehensive results and drastically cut account abuse.

That said, we certainly acknowledge your need for more ease of use. And in fact, there is something you can do to alleviate some of the burden that comes with the trusted devices feature: Simply activate the 2 factor authentication for your TeamViewer account. This will let you bypass the trusted device process, while maintaining the same level of security.

And if the Captcha gives you too much of a headache you can simply log on to the Computer & Contacts list in TeamViewer client and access the Management Console from within the client. This way, you will not be requested to completed the Captcha dialogue.

Finally, we would like to stress how much your opinion matters to us. So, we will certainly consider any suggestions you might have. If that is the case, share them with us please.

Best regards,
Eduardo Bernal
Senior Director Customer Satisfaction and Tech Support