Tech

YubiKey 5: The ultimate security gift

Make the holidays a time of giving weak passwords the boot and replacing them with strong hardware-based authentication.

Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer on Nov. 20, 2018

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It's almost 2019. Isn't it time we all did our bit to give weak passwords the boot? One of the quickest and easiest ways to do this is to switch up to strong hardware-based authentication in the form of the YubiKey 5.

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I'm a big fan of hardware-based authentication, and switched over to using YubiKeys a while back. The latest YubiKey 5 release builds on what the earlier keys had to offer, with a single key being able to support FIDO2, FIDO U2F, one-time-password (OTP), and smart card. YubiKey 5 also comes in a variety of form factors and connectivity options, including support for NFC authentication (even on the iPhone).

YubiKey by Yubico

YubiKey 5 can be used to secure a wide range of online services (including Google, Facebook, Dropbox, GitHub, Dashlane and more), today adding passwordless login to an array of Microsoft services such as Outlook, Office 365, and Skype, using the Edge browser on Windows 10.

YubiKey 5 hardware is pretty cheap -- starting at $45 for the YubiKey 5 NFC -- and incredibly robust. I've been using YubiKeys now regularly for 18 months and the things are indestructible in daily use and can survive going through the wash, being on keyrings, and being knocked about all the time.

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So, if you want to give yourself (or someone else) the gift of security for the holidays, I highly recommend you take a look at the YubiKey 5.