Google to Sell Bluetooth Security Key

[acurrie]

If you've ever wondered how Google employees protect their online security (and yours), it's with these in-house hardware security keys—USB for desktop and laptop computers and Bluetooth, which can additionally be used with Android devices. Google has branded this pair of products "Titan" and, as CNET reports, will soon be selling them in their online store for $25 USD each or $50 for both.

It's the Bluetooth key in particular that seems a bit contentious. On the one hand you've got security key competitor Yubico, already throwing shade:

While Yubico previously initiated development of a BLE security key, and contributed to the BLE U2F standards work, we decided not to launch the product as it does not meet our standards for security, usability and durability. BLE does not provide the security assurance levels of NFC and USB, and requires batteries and pairing that offer a poor user experience.

And on the other you've got CNET itself, which wonders why multi-factor-authentication via Bluetooth can't just be embedded into a Wear OS device.

There will inevitably be some compromise between safety and security. I can't imagine a world where smartphone users have hardware keys dangling from their USB or Lightning ports, so I guess Bluetooth is better than nothing.

Source: CNET (1) (2), Yubico