Google has just revealed that any phone that’s running Android 7 or higher can be used from now on as a physical security key for the two-factor authentication.
This will be giving users even more enhanced security to log into Google apps than other 2FA methods that Google has to offer at the moment.
In other words, whenever you want a physical device in order to verify your login, your phone will be able to do the trick.
Make the Android phone your security key
In order to make your Android phone your security key, you will just have to connect your phone via Bluetooth to a Chrome browser in order to verify logins. Even if some older desktop PCs don’t have Bluetooth, most laptops do.
The brand new authentication scheme works on “Gmail, G Suite, Google Cloud, and any other Google account service, and uses the FIDO authentication standard,” as reported by The Verge.
Google said that other websites might join in later on as well, but at the moment, it’s still in the process of certifying its authentication service.
Preventing unauthorized logins
The 2FA is able to help prevent unauthorized logins just in case someone gets your password.
Google says that everyone should start using their mobile device as a security key, but they mostly recommend this for “journalists, activists, business leaders, and political campaign teams who are at risk of targeted online attacks.”
Not all the methods of 2FA are just as secure, and Google has been offering a lot, as cited from the Verge:
“SMS verification codes, the Google Authenticator’s rotating codes, and Google Prompts, which let your Android phone and a Google service on your computer directly communicate with each other over the internet.”
The online publication says that the new physical security key option will be working similarly to Google Prompts.