2-Factor Authentication now in beta

ArenaNet have now released 2-factor authentication for beta testing (using Google Authenticator).

If you wish to add this to your account for improved security, some warnings first:

THIS IS STILL IN BETA: there are already a few reported issues on the forums (particularly in relation to scanning the QR Code to set it up).
If you already use the Google Authenticator app for other logins (e.g. email, etc), DO NOT SCAN THE QR CODE at the moment – set it up manually. The Scanned QR Code is currently REPLACING THE SECRET on ALL other authentication tokens, which could lock you out of your other accounts.
It supposedly is working fine when entered as a new account to the Google Authenticator manually rather than through scanning the QR code.
This IS NOT COMPATIBLE with the “-nopatchui” command line option. You MUST be able to see the login/patch screen to be able to enter the current 6-digit authentication code, which means that if you enable this you will likely lose the ability to (reliably) see the mumble overlay. Given a choice, I personally prefer the increased security ;). If you do not remove the “-nopatchui” from the command line, you will end up with the black screen prior to character selection as currently happens when you try to log in when the login server is down and will be unable to load further.

Having said that, the instructions to set this up are available at the official forums:
Beta Feature: Mobile 2-Factor Authentication

The issues thread. This is worth a skim read first to see what – if any – issues people are having.
Bug Report Thread for 2 Factor Authentication

Links for getting an authenticator program on your phone:

For iOS, Android, Blackberry, see: http://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1066447 (ignore the “SMS/Voice Setup” paragraph prior to the links).
For other phones/platforms, see the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Authenticator.

I’ve added the code to my accounts, and forum/website seems to be working properly with it. I’ll test game login tonight when I get home ;).