Valve will be introducing a new trade feature called “trade holds” in order to protect scammers from stealing items from Steam users. Trade holds basically delays the trading of items, giving time for Steam users to find out if their account is compromised.
Trade holds will occur to any Steam accounts that aren’t protected with the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator, which increases the security of those accounts with two-step verification. Furthermore, if any account isn’t under protection of the authenticator, the delay will commence for up to three days before its actual execution.
Steam users can remove the need for trade holds by enabling the Mobile Authenticator in the Steam mobile app. That way, they can trade items with better speed and security. So obviously, the trading feature is also an encouragement for the users to take the protection of their accounts seriously.
Besides, the timing of the introduction of “trade holds” is appropriate since the Steam Exploration Sales is now live, and this is where item tradings are more frequent at the same time. According to the Counter Strike Blog, trade holds will start commencing on 9 December.
Additionally, the blog also stated that if Steam users have the Mobile Authenticatior in their devices, they can receive a five percent discount on their Market purchases. The discount lasts until the 16 December. Quite a reward for those who are willing to maximise their account’s security.
Source: Steam
