Google has revealed it is bringing its Titan Security Key to a range of new markets, including the UK.
The physical key offers increased security for users, providing two-factor authentication (2FA) and will now be coming
The company says that the physical security keys have entirely cut out phishing attacks among Google employees, and wants to bring this ability to a wider audience outside of the US.
Security hole
“The core problem that security keys are solving is that passwords aren’t enough today,” Sampath Srinivas, Google Cloud product management director said at a media briefing attended by TechRadar Pro.
“The fundamental issue is that the Internet has a security hole…that’s what we’re trying to fix with security keys.”
Google says security keys offer far stronger security protection than other systems, and are faster than the likes of SMS codes. It found that more than 4.3 billion credentials were leaked in data dumps last year, meaning a huge number of user accounts are at risk of being compromised.
The company found that although “99.9 percent” of attacks get through, anyone affected by that remaining 0.01 percent would be ten times more likely to have their accounts hijacked by hackers – a figure that rises to around 5000 times more likely if they were the victim of a phishing attack.
The “phishing-resistant” security key looks to prevent such compromises by taking the security onus away from the user. The products feature an embedded security chip with Google-written firmware that acts as a middle man between your device and a website’s server, flagging any malicious sites or domains that may have been installed via malware and preventing users from gaining access.
The product comes in both USB and Bluetooth versions, and is available now to the public via Google’s online Store from today for £50.
