New Yubico security keys let you use fingerprints instead of passwords

You can use the keys to skip passwords or as a second form of authentication. (credit: Yubico)

Security experts have long abhorred passwords. They’re hackable, forgettable, and, sometimes, guessable (looking at you, password1). As companies like Microsoft and Google move to embrace password-less logins, Yubico thinks it has the key to keeping things simple. The YubiKey Bio Series announced today is the company’s first hardware security key to offer fingerprint logins.

Yubico’s Bio Series introduces biometric authentication to the hardware security key-maker’s lineup. The new keys support the latest FIDO2/WebAuthn and U2Fopen authentication standards to which Yubico contributes.

Fits either your USB-C (left) or USB-A (right) port. (credit: Yubico)

The keys target desktop PCs, which are typically stationary, making it easy to leave the key in a USB Type-A or USB-C port, depending on the model you pick. Each key has a built-in fingerprint reader, so you can log in with the tap of a finger instead of having to remember your password. The key could also serve as a form of two-factor authentication.