Yubico releases a dongle for secure physical authentication on iPhone, iPad, Mac and more

Originally introduced in January at CES 2019, the YubiKey 5Ci security key for two-factor physical authentication on iPhone, iPad, Mac and more is now available for $70.

According to the company, YubiKey 5Ci supports multiple authentication protocols, including IDO2/WebAuthn, FIDO U2F, OTP (one-time password), PIV (Smart Card) and OpenPGP. To quickly refresh your memory, two-factor authentication provides an extra layer of protection for your Internet accounts and services, including your Apple ID.

“The YubiKey 5Ci is the world’s first iPhone and iPad-friendly security key designed to deliver strong hardware-backed authentication over a Lightning connection,” the company wrote. The attachment also has a USB-C connector for securely accessing apps and services on Mac, Windows and Android devices.

YubiKey’s USB-C port does not yet work with the USB-C-enabled iPad Pro models.

With this accessory, you can secure access to compatible desktop apps, including 1Password, Bitwarden Idaptive, LastPass and Okta, as well as authenticate logins from sites like Twitter, Login.gov, GitHub, Bitbucket, 1Password and others with a hardware-based encryption key.

Here’s how you can secure 1Password with YubiKey 5Ci.

When you secure an app with YubiKey, authenticating access requires both your app password and your physical YubiKey. Yubico is working with browser vendors to build in support for the YubiKey accessories, as well as with developers to bring support for its hardware-based authentication to additional apps.

You can, however, access some of your favorite services with the YubiKey 5Ci through the Brave iOS browser, which is the first and only iOS browser to support WebAuthn over the Lightning connector at this time.

Here are the key highlights:

  • Secure your login and protect your account with hundreds of services like LastPass, Dashlane, 1Password and others.
  • Protect your online accounts from phishing and account takeovers. A YubiKey makes it extremely difficult to gain access or steal your most important files, pictures, emails and financial information.
  • Register easily with hundreds of services. Once registered, each service will simply request you to insert and tap your YubiKey to gain access during login. Simple, convenient and secure.
  • Use the same asymmetric cryptography and strong security used by individuals at 9 of the top 10 technology companies. Yubico pioneered the creation of the FIDO U2F and FIDO2 authentication protocols along with Google and Microsoft. Using the YubiKey, companies have seen zero successful phishing attempts.

You can get your YubiKey in black or white over at the Yubico website.

What do you think of this hardware dongle from a security standpoint?

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