Yahoo wants to kill the password one text message at a time

Yahoo's new on-demand passwords are available to U.S. users as an opt-in feature. To get set-up, log in in to Yahoo.com and from the account ... News BestPicks Reviews How-To Deals AllDeals CouponCodes AllCouponCodes eBayCoupon HPCouponCode OnePlusCoupon SamsungPromoCode MicrosoftCoupon DellCouponCode MotleyFoolDiscount GoProPromoCode StarzPromoCode AT&TWirelessPromoCode BlackFriday2021Coupons CyberMonday2021Coupons Laptops Windows Security More Accessories Business Entertainment Gaming Mobile PCs&Components SmartTech Software Wifi&Networks Shop Newsletters DigitalMagazine–Subscribe DigitalMagazine–Login Skiptocontent Home/Security/News WiththebackingofGoogleandMicrosoft,theFIDOAlliancewantstokillpasswordsthroughbiometricslikefingerprintsandeyescans.Yahoo,however,istryingadifferentapproach—onethatlooksalotlikethetwo-factorauthenticationwehavenow. DuringSXSWonSunday,thecompanyannouncedanewfeatureforU.S.userscalledon-demandpasswords.InsteadofkeepingasinglepasswordinyourmemoryorapasswordmanagerlikeLastPass,Yahoowillsendaone-timelogincodetoyourmobilephoneeverytimeyouwanttosign-intoyourYahooaccount. Yahoo’snewon-demandpasswordsareavailabletoU.S.usersasanopt-infeature. Togetset-up,loginintoYahoo.comandfromtheaccountmanagementpageselectAccountsecurity.Theninthemainpartofthepage,selectOn-demandpassword.Next,Yahoowillaskyoutoenteryourphonenumbertosendyouaverificationcode.Onceyouverifythatyouarereceivingcodes,eachtimeyouattempttosignintoyourYahooaccountyou’llnowseeasendmypasswordbutton. Theimpactonyouathome:Ifyoudon’tuseapasswordmanagerandusethesamepasswordformultipleaccounts,on-demandpasswordscouldbeablessing.Thenewfeatureremovestheburdenofcreatingandrememberingapassword.AllyouhavetodoismakesureyourphoneischargedandhasasignalwhenyouneedtosignintoaYahoosite.Yahoodidn’taddresshowyoumightgetonlineifyou’resomewherethathasInternetaccess,butnocellsignal—suchasin-flight—butit’saninterestingapproachtokillingpasswordsthatisfairlysimpletouseonceyou’vesignedup. Moresecurity Yahooalsoprovidedanupdateonitsend-to-endGPGemailencryptionpluginthatthecompanyfirstannouncedinAugust.InavideopostedtoYouTube,Yahooshowsitsnewplugininactionwithaside-by-sidecomparisonofgettingupandrunningwithGPGTools,anencryptionsuiteforMacOSXdesktops. Inthevideo,YahooMail’sencryptionpluginlooksrelativelysimpletouseandshouldmakeencryptioneasierforanyonethatwantsthefunctionality.Yahoosaysthepluginshouldbeavailabletoallusersbytheendof2015. Author:IanPaul,Contributor IanisanindependentwriterbasedinIsraelwhohasnevermetatechsubjecthedidn'tlike.HeprimarilycoversWindows,PCandgaminghardware,videoandmusicstreamingservices,socialnetworks,andbrowsers.Whenhe'snotcoveringthenewshe'sworkingonhow-totipsforPCusers,ortuninghiseGPUsetup. RecentstoriesbyIanPaul: BestantivirusforAndroid:Protectionforyourphoneortablet ThebestfreeantivirusforAndroid Youshouldbeusingapasswordmanager.LastPass,ourfavorite,is20%off CouponCodesDellCouponBuyselectbusinesslaptopsat35%offwithDellcouponSamsungPromoCodeSamsungpromocode:Upto40%offyourorderMotleyFoolDiscount84%off2-yearRuleBreakersmembershipwithMotleyFooldiscounteBayCoupon$5eBaynewusercouponforanyorderOverstockCoupon15%Overstockcoupononthebest-sellinghomegoodsJCPenneycouponIndependenceDaySale:Upto80%offeverythingforyourhomewithJCPenneypromocode