Skip to main content

Forget that password, Google wants to replace it with USB keys and ‘smart rings’

Image used with permission by copyright holder

A quick glance through last year’s headlines is enough to tell you that typed-in passwords are not the stalwart security plan that they were in the early days of computing. Today, it’s too easy and commonplace for a popular site to be hacked and your personal information to become vulnerable. And gauging by the 2012 stats from SplashData, far too many people leave themselves open to attacks by choosing weak passwords

But what other options do we have? According to Wired, Google is looking for new choices beyond the current standard of passwords and cookies, and is researching using a physical key to lock and unlock your online things. One of the experiments by the search company includes a YubiKey cryptographic card that you simply slide into a USB port to log into Google. 

Recommended Videos

Google’s Vice President of Security Eric Grosse and Engineer Mayank Upadhyay wrote an article that’s due to appear in an upcoming issue of IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine about Google’s efforts to revitalize our password systems. They said the ideal system of protection would involve authenticating a single device, such as a YubiKey or a smartphone, that would be configured to grant you access to any of your online services. “We’d like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorize a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity,” they wrote.

It’s one of those “we’re living in the future” ideas, but it isn’t without some serious hurdles. There would have to be an airtight backup plan in case the key got lost or stolen. And most importantly, other websites and online services would have to agree to support the system. Google’s browser has needed some tweaking to work with the key authentication, so several big players would need to jump on the bandwagon for the idea to really get off the ground. 

In the meantime, Google is working on some improvements to its existing two-step authentication process. In the current system, when you – or someone pretending to be you – signs in from an unfamiliar computer, a security code gets sent to your mobile phone that you need to enter in order to complete the login. This two-step approach is an improvement from just using a user name and password, but it still doesn’t protect against phishing. So Google has an addition in development from the key-based idea that would be independent of its own services. Removing the Google affiliation for the key system would get rid of the phishing concern as well as the need for support from other sites. It’s definitely a step in a safer direction. 

(Image via jakeliefer)

Anna Washenko
Former Contributor
Anna is a professional writer living in Chicago. She covers everything from social media to digital entertainment, from tech…
This new Google Docs feature is exactly what I’ve always wanted
Text box in Google Docs on a laptop.

As a writer of a certain age, I've lived a lot of life in Google Docs. It's where my first drafts go, but it's also where my crazy ideas, unhinged brainstorming, and research dumps go. 
There’s so many conveniences about Google Docs that make it my go-to for word processing, but let’s be honest: It’s still fairly barebones, especially when it comes to organizing and managing different files within Google Drive. But this new feature makes all of that much easier, keeping it all contained all within Docs itself.
It’s called Document Tabs, which you may have already noticed floating just to the left of your document.

The idea is simple: It lets you create multiple documents within a single Docs file. Create as many “tabs” or separate documents as a single project might need, and switch between them extremely fast. That accessibility to them is really where the gold is. No more switching between different browser tabs.
It’s even more handy on mobile, of course, where switching applications or tabs is even more cumbersome. Here, you’ll find Document Tabs hovering just at the bottom of the screen with some simple arrows to flip between your different tabs. All we need now is a simple gesture to be added to flip between them even more seamlessly.
Document Tabs takes the place of the old outlining system, which would grab headers and automatically create a table of contents around them. I used this frequently, but it was pretty finicky. More than that, it resulted in overly long documents that I still found myself scrolling through. 
Document Tabs is a really elegant solution to that problem. Whether it’s segmenting chapters in a book, multiple aspects of a project, or even just different parts of an article, it’s already become an extremely useful outlining and productivity tool for me.
It even had a pretty clean way of converting the tabs when you need to export. All the tabs do is combine down into one document, but they’re sectioned off with titles and some basic formatting. That’s not going to be ideal in every situation, of course, so it’s something to keep in mind if you need to export and share it with someone outside of Docs.
At the very least, though, it’s worth trying out. And if you’re a Google Docs fiend like I am, I have a feeling you’ll get quite a lot out of it.

Read more
How to password protect a Word document
Word resume on a MacBook on a table.

Microsoft Word is suitable for creating all manner of documents. But it doesn't matter if you use Microsoft Word to create shopping lists or legal documents, you might want to protect the file from prying eyes.

Password protecting a Word file is a great way to add an extra layer of protection to your documents with sensitive data inside. It won't make it fullproof, but it will make it much harder for anyone to look at the contents of your files without finding out the password first.

Read more
This is the best password manager for Windows
A person using 1Password on a desktop all-in-one computer while sat at a desk. There are two laptops next to them on the desk.

Picking the best password manager for Windows is tricky. There is a lot of competition out there and many of the options offer unique features to try to stand out from the pack. Which one is right for you depends on what kind of password manager experience you're looking for, but there's one password manager we think that stands above the rest.

The best password manager for Windows is 1Password, but I've offered one alternative as well.
Why 1Password is the best

Read more