“It’s the latest indication of Google’s enthusiasm for 2FA security…”

iPhone and iPad users can now secure their Google apps with Yubico’s Two-Factor Authentication solutions. The functionality arrives with Google’s support for the WebAuthn authentication protocol on iOS, Apple’s mobile operating platform.

This means that users of Apple’s mobile devices can now enable their Google apps to require security key authentication when accessed through their iPhone and iPads. Authentication can be performed with the YubiKey 5Ci and its Lightning connector allowing it to plug directly into an iPhone or iPad; or via the YubiKey 5 NFC and Security Key NFC devices, which can simply be tapped to an iOS device for authentication.

Yubico says that its other YubiKey models can also be used with iOS devices by connecting them using an Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter.

It’s the latest indication of Google’s enthusiasm for 2FA security, with the tech giant having announced earlier this year a new open-source project aimed at letting third party vendors build their own security keys. As far back as 2014, Google was already implementing FIDO U2F support for account authentication through its Chrome browser.

For its part, Yubico says that for this month only, Google Cloud and G Suite account administrators can get an “introductory discount” of $20 per any two YubiKey 5 Series devices, up to a maximum of 20 keys.

Yubico has also planned a special webinar on the topic of “Securing Google and G Suite Accounts with YubiKeys”, slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. PST on June 10th. The company notes that Google has not yet reported any successful phishing attempts on accounts using its Advanced Protection Program, and says its iOS-friendly YubiKeys can now help organizations bring the number of account takeovers on Apple’s mobile devices down to zero.

Source: Yubico

[UPDATE 06/09/20: An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested that Google was offering the discount on YubiKey 5 Series devices. The discount is offered by Yubico.]