Security keys offer almost unbeatable security and can protect against a variety of threats, including nation-state attackers. Your Gmail, Twitter and Facebook account all support these plug-in devices as a second-factor of authentication after your username and password - a far stronger mechanism than the simple code sent to your phone. When you want to log in to an online account, you plug in the key to your device and it authenticates you. These security keys are small enough to sit on a keyring. Announced in June, the company said the security keys would cater to cross-platform users - particularly Apple device owners.

Yubico’s newest YubiKey is the latest iteration of its security key built to support a newer range of devices, including Apple’s iPhone, iPad and MacBooks, in a single device. The YubiKey 5Ci costs $70 and is available now.Almost two months after it was first announced, Yubico has launched the YubiKey 5Ci, a security key with dual support for iPhones, Macs and other USB-C compatible devices. The YubiKey 5Ci’s Lightning connection makes it compatible with all modern iOS devices, and the USB-C connection works with “nearly every USB-C equipped laptop or mobile device,” excepting iPad Pro.

The YubiKey 5Ci brings this functionality to the iPhone, and it’s compatible with popular password managers such as Dashlane, LastPass, and 1Password, and with apps like Dropbox, Keeper Security, SecMaker, the Brave web browser, and more. And in November, the firm did just that, adding support for password-less Microsoft account (MSA) sign-ins. FIDO2/WebAuthn, as you may recall, is the technology that Microsoft co-created to help bring about its vision for the end of passwords. Yubico launched its YubiKey 5 Series family of security keys in September 2018, adding support for FIDO2/WebAuthn in a variety of form factors. In an increasingly mobile-first world, where users are not tied to one machine, the YubiKey 5Ci serves an important role as a portable root of trust, proving that users are who they say they are, no matter what device they are on.”

“It is the first iOS-friendly security key on the market to offer strong, yet simple authentication over a Lightning connection, while still delivering a unified experience across other mobile, desktop or laptop devices. “The YubiKey 5Ci fills a critical gap in the mobile authentication ecosystem,” Yubico’s Jerrod Chong says. Yubico today announced the latest addition to its family of multi-protocol security keys, the Yubikey 5Ci, which provides both USB-C and Lightning connectors.

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