Dive Brief:
- Yahoo said it’s eliminating the traditional password for its Yahoo mail app, Reuters reported.
- Starting yesterday, Yahoo Mail app users on both iOS and Android had access to a new service called Yahoo Account Key. The service uses smartphones to verify identities instead of traditional passwords.
- A number of companies have been looking into alternatives to the traditional password system.
Dive Insight:
When users who sign up for Account Key try to access Yahoo Mail, the Account Key service will send a message to their smartphone. Users can then confirm if it is a legitimate attempt to get into the account or deny unauthorized access with the touch of a button.
Dylan Casey, vice president of product management for Yahoo said Account Key is more secure than traditional passwords.
Satnam Narang, a security manager with Symantec, said the approach "a step above a password" but still falls short of two-factor authentication.
"I think passwords are going to be around for a little while, I don't think they're going away as soon as we'd like them to,” said Narang.
Today’s cybercriminals have numerous ways to discover login and password information, and the typical employee tends to re-use passwords or make them too easy to guess, prompting several companies to look for new approaches.
