World’s Largest Bitcoin Currency Exchange Uses YubiKey For Two-Factor Authentication
Mt. Gox’s database was compromised last month when a user account was hacked
Yubico, a leading provider of easy and secure login solutions, today announced its YubiKey is providing two-factor authentication for Mt. Gox and their customers. Mt. Gox is an exchange that allows people to trade US Dollars (USD) for Bitcoins (BTC) or Bitcoins for US Dollars with other Mt. Gox users.
After Mt. Gox’s database was compromised last month when a user account was hacked, they needed a much more secure solution to offer their customers to prevent another security breach from happening. The YubiKey was attractive to them because it gave them the option to generate the cryptographic secrets and manage authentication themselves plus they were able to quickly and easily deploy an affordable solution to their customers in just two weeks from the breach. As Yubico’s software is free and open source, there are no setup fees which enabled Mt. Gox to rapidly implement strong authentication.
“The security of our traders is paramount. Hindsight is 20/20 they say, and if we would have known that the YubiKey security solution was so quick to implement and cost efficient prior to our security breach, we could have saved ourselves and our users a world of headaches,” said Adam Turner, Support Team Leader at Mt. Gox. “Having now gone through the process of re-launching our online exchange with YubiKey, we feel that we’re now in the best position to offer our customers a secure trading experience. The YubiKey is one very big step towards re-establishing trust and confidence with our traders.”
The YubiKey simplifies the process of logging in with a One-Time Password (OTP) token as it does not require the user to re-type OTPs from a display device into the login field of the computer. The YubiKey is inserted in the USB port of any computer and the OTP is generated and automatically entered with a simple touch of a button on the YubiKey, without the need to install any client software or drivers. The rugged, ultra-thin, battery-free, crush safe and waterproof design has also been fundamental to the success of the YubiKey, currently used by a million users globally.
“With the increase in online fraud and security breaches, it is extremely important that companies protect their customer databases,” says Stina Ehrensv�rd, Yubico CEO. “We are pleased to see Mt. Gox customers can now trade with confidence by using a YubiKey to securely access their accounts.”
About Mt. Gox
MtGox.com is the world’s leading Bitcoin exchange, featuring instantaneous electronic trading of Bitcoins for MTGUSD. MtGox.com officially launched July 18, 2010 and was acquired by Tibanne Co., Ltd. on March 6, 2011.
About Yubico
Yubico’s core product is the YubiKey’, a unique USB-key for instant and strong authentication to networks and services.
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