Earlier this month Valve frontman Gabe Newell revealed his Steam login and password at a packed GDC 2011 presentation, daring the world to try and gain access to his account. What sounded like a recipe for disaster ended in disappointment for would be identity thieves: No-one gained access to Newell's account! The dare was a demonstration of the might of Steam Guard. Now the technology has gone live offering the same level of protection for each and every Steam user around the world.

Available to Steam Users should they so chose, Steam Guard is a method of protection allowing users to link their account with a specific PC. If someone tries to log in to the account from a different computer then an email notification will be sent to the account holder requesting their approval. A special access code will be provided in the email and will need to be supplied additional to the login details for users taking advantage of the new security measures. The feature allows the account holder to still gain access to Steam from other computers, while denying all unknown connections. Now just long as you're not one of those people that has the same password for their email as well as their Steam login...

Despite the previous announcement that Valve would be teaming up with Intel to incorporate Intel Identity Protection Technology, this feature is lacking in the current iteration. Rest assured however, Valve "hope to offer additional forms of authentication soon though".

More information on Steam Guard can be found on the FAQ page.