After serving as a trusted login authenticator for years, Yubico has now stepped up to support biometric authentication. Dubbed the Bio Series, the new Yubico hardware security keys will allow users to authenticate logins with fingerprints.
Yubico Bio Series Security Keys
Continuing its advocacy and support for passwordless authentication, Yubico has rolled out the new Bio Series security keys.
Elaborating on these keys in a detailed document, Yubico stated that the new hardware keys support both fingerprint-based and PIN-based logins. The keys come with a built-in fingerprint reader, letting the users simply tap on the key for authentication.
The vendors have launched the keys in two prevalent form factors – USB-A and USB-C – thus supporting various devices. Users can either use the keys for secure passwordless authentication or as a two-factor authenticator. Also, these keys support logins requiring fingerprint scans or biometric authentication for FIDO2/WebAuthn-enabled services.
Regarding the hardware structure, Yubico explained that the Bio Series comes with a separate secure chip to store fingerprint templates. Furthermore, since the hardware remains offline, users need not worry about fingerprint thefts.
The YubiKey is based on hardware with the authentication secret or fingerprint stored on a separate secure chip built into the YubiKey, with no connection to the internet so it cannot be copied or stolen…
With the YubiKey, the data is encrypted with strong public key cryptography where only the public key is stored on the server, eliminating risks.
Due to this secure architecture, these keys can significantly prevent online threats such as account takeovers and man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attacks.
Yubico announced these hardware security keys amidst Google’s plans for a global (yet gradual) roll-out of two-step verification. The tech giant recently announced this feature alongside revealing its plans to launch an accessible Google Password Manager feature in the Google app to allow easy access for the users to all the accounts.
