U2F, Google, Yubico Lead Authentication Makeover

The authentication landscape has been altered and evidence of that can be seen among a trio of front runners: FIDO U2F, Google and Yubico.

This week, Yubico laid out the details during a live webinar entitled “FIDO U2F, Google Drive for Work and YubiKey,” that is now available for playback online.

The in-depth discussion starts with the YubiKey, its place on the authentication landscape, its range of authentication options, and how its unique one-touch user interface is solving one of cryptography’s major complexity issues.

From there, the focus hones in on YubiKey’s implementation of the FIDO Alliance’s Universal 2nd Factor protocol, which Yubico helped invent.

A live demo shows how to add a YubiKey to Google Drive for Work using three brief steps for activating U2F’s cryptographic authentication and strengthening Google’s existing username and password login. No codes or phone apps needed.

The themes here are phishing protection, privacy, affordability and the ability to use one key to authenticate to many services.

In addition, Google’s new U2F key management tools for its Drive for Work administrative console are discussed. Now, for the first time with U2F, enterprises have backend management tools, standard clients (Google Chrome) and hardened security devices (Yubikeys).

In addition, listeners are given a behind-the-scenes understanding of key registration and how authentication is secured at a relying party using the U2F protocol.

A glimpse is given of the exploding ecosystem of U2F authenticators, services, chips, enterprise servers, open source options, and mobile apps. Finally, the conclusion examines the differences and complementary relationship of the YubiKey and smartphones-as-authenticators.

The wrap-up features the answers to 15 minutes of questions received from the audience.

Yubico CEO Stina Ehrensvard hosts the Webinar and is joined by two of her colleagues, industry veteran John Haggard, Yubico’s chief business officer, and Jerrod Chong, vice president of solutions engineering.

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