One Ring to Rule Them All: USB Jewelry to Replace Passwords?
The average internet user has 25 online accounts and 6.5 different passwords, according to Microsoft data. It’s nearly impossible to track the number of scammers and victims online, but it seems to be in the bagillions. Citizens are getting our identities stolen, our online bank accounts accessed, and our lives ruined on an increasingly detrimental level. On the other hand, the more passwords we have to remember or steps we have to take to sign into our accounts the more collectively annoyed we seem to get.
Empires have been built in the name of online security, and unfortunately many have also fallen. The tech whirlpool has been scrambling to close the loose ends of internet scams since the first phisher bated their first victim and now Google has come up with a massively new concept for a solution: the all-in-one password USB. Actually, it’s a USB drive that allows you to log into all your accounts at once sort of like a digital fingerprint that’s unique to you. The device can also be worn as a necklace or embedded in a ring. As handy-dandy as this sounds, it also raises a lot of questions. What if someone gets a hold of your USB-identity card?
Hackers, Hackers, Everywhere
Passwords are an inexpensive-to-maintain standard in online security, but they’re easy to hack, guess and get around. In 2011 and 2012 alone, there was a whopping 67 percent increase in consumer breach notifications alone, according to LifeLock on Twitter. According to Itickr, 66 percent of US consumers use the same 1-2 passwords on every site they sign into and keep the same password for 31 months. This makes hacking and identity takeover a much easier task for the perpetrator. Password users also complain about forgetting their passwords, leading to issues logging on. The USB device would eliminate these problems by using a unique, untraceable encrypted key each time the user logs in, making it impossible to impersonate. With this device, a password would only be needed for deep backup, claims the maker of the device, Yubico. Although Google has tried to curb hackers and phishers with their two-step authentication program, it has proved only slightly more difficult to circumvent than a one step password.
USB-Safety Concerns
It sounds charming and handy just tapping your USB ring to your computer to let it know it’s you and you’re instantly and securely connected to all your accounts: social, professional, banking, etc. . . and every time you use a new computer, you need only key it up and it’s all ready to go. No installations, no remember my password settings, no worries about preventing identity theft. Wired magazine reports that Google Vice President of Security Eric Grosse and Engineer Mayank Upadhyay think this will be the log-in of the future. Integrating this new process will be an enormous amount of work. As many companies have tried and failed, Google might be the only company large enough to take on the endeavor.
As cool as this technology sounds, the vast majority have responded with concern about what happens if the key is lost or stolen. In the wrong hands, this technology would also make it infinitely easier to take on someone’s identity and disrupt every aspect of their life with the click of a mouse, should they get a hold of someone else’s key. For now, the best advice Wired magazine can give is report it immediately, but only time will tell what the future brings.
Authored By : Jennifer Morris, who is an ardent follower of cloud solution trends and database security improvement. She shares tips and advice with her readers on several business-related sites.