Two-factor authentication gets physical with USB U2F devices<article>
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I’ve written a few times about two-factor authentication (2FA), where a password (something you know) is paired with a second item, like a device-generated token or one-time code sent via SMS (something you have). A password can be stolen or sometimes extracted, so a second factor makes it substantially more difficult for someone who lacks physical access to you or your stuff to break into one of your accounts. This restricts attackers from accomplishing wholesale attacks across thousands or millions of accounts, unless 2FA is badly implemented or attackers find an exploit.</p><p>
While Apple has tried to take the pain out of 2FA through
its trusted device approach with iCloud accounts, many people still believe this is too complicated for average users to employ. There needs to be something powerful, simple, and ubiquitously supported, they argue—as do I. Apple’s solution only works for people fully embedded in Apple’s ecosystem and only for some of Apple’s services.</p><p class="jumpTag"><a href="/article/2852587/yubikeys-by-yubico-provide-two-factor-authentication-by-usb.html#jump">To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here[/url]</p></section></article>
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Two-factor authentication gets physical with USB U2F devices
