Yahoo! Intros On-Demand Passwords
By introducing on-demand passwords, Yahoo! aims to make it easier for customers to sign into their accounts.
The company asks a simple question: is having to remember passwords giving you unwanted anxiety? Instead of worrying about having to remember your password, you can enable on-demand passwords. You won’t have to remember anything because passwords will be texted to your mobile.
Here’s how things work right now, without on-demand passwords: type in your username and password and you’re logged into your account. If you want to log into your Yahoo! account, you just have to provide the correct username and password.
And here’s how thing work with on-demand passwords: a password will be sent to your mobile; use this password to log into your account. You won’t have to remember your password, because Yahoo! will send the required password to your mobile.
Chris Stoner, Director of Product Management, posted instructions how to enable on-demand passwords on Yahoo!’s Tumblr:
If you’re thinking “this sounds a lot of like two-factor authentication/two-step verification”, you’re right. It does sound like two-factor authentication – but without the first factor.
You see, two-factor authentication works like this. First, you have to provide your username and password. Then another password is then sent to you, to make sure that you and not someone else is trying to access your account. You must use this second password to complete the login process.
Yahoo! skips the first step. Instead of asking you for a username and password, it sends a password to your mobile, password that you can use to log into your Yahoo! account.
The company asks a simple question: is having to remember passwords giving you unwanted anxiety? Instead of worrying about having to remember your password, you can enable on-demand passwords. You won’t have to remember anything because passwords will be texted to your mobile.
Here’s how things work right now, without on-demand passwords: type in your username and password and you’re logged into your account. If you want to log into your Yahoo! account, you just have to provide the correct username and password.
And here’s how thing work with on-demand passwords: a password will be sent to your mobile; use this password to log into your account. You won’t have to remember your password, because Yahoo! will send the required password to your mobile.
Chris Stoner, Director of Product Management, posted instructions how to enable on-demand passwords on Yahoo!’s Tumblr:
- Sign in to your Yahoo.com account.
- Click on your name at the top right corner to go to your account information page.
- Select “Security” in the left bar.
- Click on the slider for “On-demand passwords” to opt-in.
- Enter your phone number and Yahoo will send you a verification code.
- Enter the code and voila!
If you’re thinking “this sounds a lot of like two-factor authentication/two-step verification”, you’re right. It does sound like two-factor authentication – but without the first factor.
You see, two-factor authentication works like this. First, you have to provide your username and password. Then another password is then sent to you, to make sure that you and not someone else is trying to access your account. You must use this second password to complete the login process.
Yahoo! skips the first step. Instead of asking you for a username and password, it sends a password to your mobile, password that you can use to log into your Yahoo! account.
