What is "yubikey"

The YubiKey is a hardware authentication device manufactured by Yubico that supports one-time passwords, public key encryption and authentication, and the Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) protocol developed by the FIDO Alliance. It allows users to securely log in to their accounts by emitting one-time passwords or using a FIDO-based public/private key pair generated by the device. YubiKey also allows for storing static passwords for use at sites that do not support one-time passwords. Facebook uses YubiKey for employee credentials, and Google supports it for both employees and users. Some password managers support YubiKey.

The devices implement the HMAC-based One-time Password Algorithm (HOTP) and the Time-based One-time Password Algorithm (TOTP), and identify themselves as a keyboard that delivers the one-time password over the USB HID protocol. The NEO and NEO-n devices also implement OpenPGP card protocol using 2048-bit RSA keys. This allows users to sign, encrypt and decrypt messages without exposing the private keys to the outside world. The NEO device also has NFC support. The 4th generation YubiKey, launched on November 16, 2015, includes support for OpenPGP with 4096-bit RSA keys, and PKCS#11 support for PIV smart cards, a feature that allows for code signing of Docker images.

Founded in 2007 by CEO Stina Ehrensvärd, Yubico is a private company with offices in Palo Alto, Seattle, Stockholm and London.