Google exploring 'password-less' online security

With passwords becoming more and more inconvenient —and hackable— Google is coming up with alternative measures to secure one's online accounts.

 

One of them, to be detailed in a paper, is a USB stick dubbed Yubikey, which can generate a one-time-use random authentication password, SingularityHub.com reported.  

 

 

Google's proposed solution aims to eventually go wireless with the technology, implanting it in cellphones or specially equipped rings.

 

"So, maybe this time we really are about to do away with passwords. More intriguing is whether they’ll be replaced with the Google ring, biometrics, behavioral recognition—or something more revolutionary," it said.

 

On the other hand, SingularityHub.com said Google has also instituted the two-step verification, adding a texted code to user passwords.

 

Yet, it said the Yubikey and two-step verification may be useless if one loses the Yubikey - or the phone where Google will send the text code for two-step verification.

 

Biometrics

 

Meanwhile, another area being explored is biometrics, which authenticate a user via his or her fingerprints and irises.

 

"There is no reason biometrics can’t be used to enhance online security—perhaps by developing scanner apps for smart phones," it said.

 

On the other hand, another field being explored is keystrokes, with the US Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) working on such a solution.

 

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University noted the way we type may be as distinctive as our handwriting.

 

"Prolonged pauses between certain letters or the rhythm with which we type words are distinctive identifiers. A computer equipped to recognize such nuances would know you as soon as you’d typed in a username and could even monitor your patterns throughout a session," SingularityHub said.

 

Yet, it said these may still not be foolproof - fake hands may be designed from pilfered fingerprints, while a hacker can record keystrokes. — TJD, GMA News