Titan Security Key Is Available For Sale In Google’s Online Store

In July 2018, the Titan security key was introduced by Google. As a matter of fact, it is a physical security key which is designed for two-factor authentication. After purchasing, you’ll get the following things:

• A USB security key
• A Bluetooth security key
• USB-C to USB-A adapter
• A USB-C to USB-A connection cable

Till now, the Titan security key is only available in the US. But according to Google, it will be available in additional regions very soon.

Google Asks Employees to Use Titan Security Key

In last year, Google began to ask its employees (about 85,000) to use the Titan security keys. And the statistics then shows that there is not a single case in which the work-related account was taken over by a phishing attack.

Yet, for non-employees, Google gives an advanced protection program to achieve stronger email security. That is because some of the users, including journalists, political activists, and government officials are easy to become the target of sophisticated hackers.

Why Physical Security Keys Are Required

According to researchers, it’s not enough to protect your account with just a password. So, the tech companies have developed new methods for protection. The new way requires a mobile phone or a hardware key.

Though the two-factor authentication is designed for higher security, not all the methods with it have the same safety. For instance, the security keys like Titan and Yubikey are safer than methods requiring SMS messages, since the later may fall victim to hackers.

In other words, with the two-factor authentication, the hackers will fail in logging into your account even though they know your password. The only way for hackers to win is to hack or possess the second factor (which is usually your phone or USB key) as well.

To say the least, once your device is invaded by hackers, you should be prepared to check and recover files deleted by virus attack.

In the cases where a drive turns to 0 bytes, you should read this:

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An Advanced Protection Feature – U2F

According to study, one of the most common forms of 2FA will require you to input a password which is sent to your mobile device through text message or within an app. This is only a one-time code.

Yet, the physical security key Google has adopted uses Universal 2nd Factor (U2F). This is actually a form of multi-factor authentication, which is more advanced. With the multi-factor authentication, you only need to login the device by inserting it to computer/another device properly or pressing a button on the device directly.

Till now, the U2F only gives support to Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. However, it is said that the updates to Microsoft’s flagship Edge browser will be rolled out to support U2F later this year. In contrast, Apple did not respond to this; it doesn’t say when or whether its Safari browser will give support to the new U2F.

Using the advanced protection feature, you must connect to a desktop computer with a physical USB security key in each log-in. This is a way to verify users’ identity.  A Bluetooth wireless device is required by any log in of mobiles.

The safest way to protect data is always: backing up files regularly.