technology

Facebook introduces support for physical ‘security key’ to counter hacking

Facebook has introduced a new feature called ‘Security Key’ for two-factor authentication while logging on to the social media website, that does not require an SMS to be sent. The social media company has announced that it will now support FIDO U2F security key, which is a physical key that is plugged in a USB-port on a computer and tapped to confirm login along with the password.
Explaining on a blog, Facebook Security team said that using the key will make accounts immune to hackers. The blog also explained how codes sent over text messages (SMS) aren’t always reliable and ‘having a phone back-up available may not work well for everyone’.
Using security keys for two-factor authentication has a number of benefits:
1. Your login becomes immune to phishing because you physically don’t enter a code yourself, instead the hardware providing cryptographic proof.
2. Security keys supporting U2F will not just work for Facebook accounts, but can also support online accounts of Google, GitHub, Drobox, Salesforce and others.
3. Logging in becomes fast and simple on your desktop, thanks to just a tap on the key after you enter your password.
Read: Facebook gives social support, Twitter knowledge: Study
“Security keys for Facebook logins currently only work with certain web browsers and mobile devices, so we’ll ask you to also register an additional login approval method, such as your mobile phone or Code Generator.To add a security key from your computer, you’ll need to be using the latest version of Chrome or Opera. At this time we don’t support security key logins for our mobile Facebook app, but if you have an NFC-capable Android device with the latest version of Chrome and Google Authenticator installed, you can use an NFC-capable key to log in from our mobile website,” the Facebook team said on the blog.

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