Google has been working on many ways in which the company can strengthen the security of its users. This is because the company now has a massive amount of users who use at least one of the services provided by the company. This services may be Android, Google Search, Google Cloud Storage or Gmail.
Therefore, it is mandatory that the user’s security should be maintained in order to prevent unauthorized access to the user’s account. For this reason, Google has introduced a new solution on top of its already available 2-factor authentication.
This is known as the Titan Security Key and it is a hardware chip much smaller than a pen drive. It has been developed by Google and will be available on the Google Store in the US as well. This announcement of 2FA Security Key has been made by Google as part of the Titan secure elements family.
Now, we have known that 2FA or 2-Factor Authentication models are already much secure than normal. However, Google says that hardware keys are a much more phishing-resistant form of two-factor authentication than even SMS or Calls.
This is because it is possible that an unauthorized user may get access to the person’s smartphone. After which, they will use the code for authentication via 2FA. Whereas, the physical key will match the person’s PC as well so as to verify the identity. This device known as fob features NFC, Bluetooth, and charging over USB-C for mobile devices, while another fob uses a standard USB port and connects to laptop computers.
The Titan Security Key can be purchased by Google Cloud customers now and is aimed at admins and other high-value users for the moment. But, we know that it is “coming soon” to the Google Store for consumer Google accounts so that normal users can use it for better security as well.