The OTP authentication is particularly interesting: the Yubikey simulates a USB keyboard and, each time the button is pressed, the key generates a password of 44 characters, usable only once: the first 12 are used to identify the key, then the other 32 contain a combination of secret, counter, timestamp, and other information. U2F technology, for example, is compatible with modern browsers such as Google Chrome and allows you to easily authenticate yourself with the Yubikey on several popular sites, such as Facebook, Gmail, GitHub and SalesForce. Although their approach is somewhat different, these technologies interact with your device or a remote website to validate that you are the right person trying to authenticate.

The Yubico token supports several protocols, including U2F, OTP, and FIDO2. For example, you can use it to unlock your PC (Windows or Mac) by inserting it into the USB port, or to authenticate yourself on a website. Then, the operation is simple: you keep this key with you, and when authentication is necessary, you enter your password and then let the key interact with the device through USB or NFC in order to share encrypted authentication information. Their keys are inexpensive (between $ 25 and $ 75 CAD for current keys, depending on the technologies supported). Yubico has released different versions of its Yubikey, and its benefits are becoming much more appealing.įirst of all, it is an open technology, not being owned by a large technology group. authentication with a combination of what we know (password), what we have (authentication token, cellular) and what we are (biometrics).īiometrics has been implemented by Apple on its devices via Face ID and Touch ID, but the authentication token remains the solution covering the widest technological spectrum. In recent years, more and more interesting solutions have emerged to allow multi-factor authentication (MFA), i.e. The 2010 decade will possibly be known as the last period when password-only authentication was considered secure.

Yubico gmail