Facebook introduces security keys for added safety
The largest social network in the world now allow its users to protect their accounts with USB security keys. While this new feature serves the same purpose as the regular two factor-authentication system by ensuring that hackers can't access your Facebook account even if they have your username and password, it's safer and more reliable than the code-containing texts. Unfortunately, at the moment, the service only works on the Chrome and Opera browsers.
To access this new feature, all you have to do is to go to your account's Security Settings, look for the Security Key option and activate it. In case you're wondering how it works, you will first need a USB security key (you can use one the same one that you use for your Gmail or Dropbox accounts), then simply add the key using your account's security settings and once that's done, each time you will want to access your Facebook account, you will need to insert to key to complete the authentication process. As far as advantages go, security keys are safer than SMS messages as they can't be intercepted by third-parties and work even in places with no cellular connectivity. The biggest downside is that because of the way they operate, it's really difficult to use security keys on smartphones or tablets.
If you're interested in security topics, you may also want to read some of our older stories such as: "Dangerous root certificates and how to deal with them" or "The Most Common Ways of Breaking into a Windows PC".
