Amazon's home security camera company Ring has finally made two-factor authentication mandatory, changing the way users sign in to their accounts.

In a blog post, the company said that starting today (February 18), a second layer of authentication will be required to sign in to a Ring account. Each time a user logs in, he or she will receive a temporary six-digit code via email or phone.

The optional two-factor authentication was already available to Ring users, but the company said it would "take further steps to ensure that (users) can be confident that their home and personal information is secure when (they) use our products."

This comes after a series of damning press reports late last year regarding Ring's privacy standards. Not only did three of the company's home cameras fail to meet Mozilla's privacy standards, but many users fell victim to system hacks. One malicious contractor was monitoring an 8-year-old girl through a Ring camera installed in her bedroom.

Prior to December, Ring did not notify users when an unknown device or browser logged into their accounts. Now, they are alerted by email anytime someone manages to break into their account.

What last year's Ring attacks have in common, however, is not that hackers broke into piles of Ring's personal data. It was that they accessed Ring accounts through the front door using previously compromised and reused passwords of legitimate users.

In a further effort to strengthen privacy controls, users can now opt out of sharing their personal data with third-party companies for a personalized advertising experience. The company also said it will suspend data sharing with third-party analytics services until opt-out settings are known.

These changes to Ring accounts are rolling out today, and all Ring users have until the end of this week to enable mandatory two-factor authentication.