Reduced support: Compared to using a phone for authentication, YubiKeys were found to be easy to use, robust in design, waterproof and did not easily break.The time saving is primarily due to the one-touch YubiKey authentication that executes in milliseconds. Logins were nearly four times faster when comparing the YubiKey to Google Authenticator. Accelerated employee productivity: Employees saw a significant reduction - by nearly 50 percent - of the time to authenticate using a YubiKey compared with using a one-time password (OTP) via SMS.Heightened security: Internal accounts protected solely with a YubiKey and FIDO U2F have experienced a significant increase in the level of security.Google’s two year study to measure the business impact of hardware-based authentication highlighted several important benefits: Shortly thereafter, Google expanded its deployment of the YubiKey to all staff and contractors for secure computer and server login, reaching more than 50,000 employees. Overcoming account takeoversĪfter a two-year evaluation of one-time passwords (OTPs), TLS certificates, smart cards and other authentication methods, Google confirmed that FIDO U2F Security Keys were best suited to deliver on the company’s security and usability needs. There is no reliance or requirement for mobile connectivity, cellular devices, mobile apps or manual code entry. One single YubiKey can secure a multitude of online services with no user information or private keys shared between the service providers. It is this work that later became an open standard adopted by the FIDO alliance called the FIDO Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) standard Through this collaboration, Yubico and Google co-created a strong authentication protocol based on the concept of a single phishing-resistant key to secure all services.

With a lack of viable two-factor authentication (2FA) options to effectively prevent these attacks and account takeovers, Google began working closely with Yubico to extend the capabilities of the YubiKey two factor authentication technology to also include public key cryptography.

In 2009 Google was the target of sophisticated cyber attacks capable of circumventing traditional security controls.

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