Google lets you use your Android phone as a security key, here’s how to activate it

The password is one of the oldest forms of internet security, but is it perfect? Hardly, but for the most part, it works as long as you choose something that makes it harder to guess. But these days hacking and phishing attempts are getting more sophisticated than ever, which means that choosing a good password is no longer enough.

This is why companies such as Google have been pushing for enhanced security through the use of physical security keys, such as Titan. The downside is that it costs $50 and some might not find that worth paying for, but the good news is that Google has come up with a free alternative.

The company has recently announced that starting today, they will be testing out a new method of security in which your Android handset can act as a security key. So far, this will only work with Google’s services which means that if you do use physical security keys to log into other services or applications on your computer, don’t discard those just yet.

If this sounds like something you might be interested in, then here’s how you can go about activating the feature and turn your Android handset into a security key:

1. Make sure you have an Android device that’s running at least Android 7.0 or above
2. You will need to have a Google account attached to the handset
3. Enroll in Google’s 2-Step-Verification program
4. Once enrolled, go to Settings and select “Add security key”
5. Choose your Android handset from the list of available devices and you’re done
6. You will also need to make sure that Bluetooth is enabled whenever you want to use your handset to sign into services

As we said, this only applies to Google’s services for now and is limited to Android devices, but if you do like the idea of a physical security key, you can always check out Google’s Titan key.

Source: Google