Yubico has expanded its presence in Australia by recruiting a regional manager to boost sales efforts and to establish distribution channels across Asia Pacific (APAC). The Swedish and American company is spearheading this expansion by launching the YubiKey 5 Series, the industry’s first multi-protocol security keys supporting the FIDO2 (Fast Identity Online) protocol in Australia.
Yubico has appointed security industry professional Tim Murphy as its regional manager for APAC, who is based in Melbourne, Australia. Murphy has more than 20 years of experience leading security sales efforts across the region for companies including Cisco, Netscout and RSA.
“It’s an exciting time for hardware authentication security keys across all industries, and we look forward to addressing the changing security challenges that APAC businesses and employees face on a daily basis,” said Tim Murphy, Regional Manager for APAC, Yubico. “We are already seeing demand from organisations in Australia and are well positioned to help these businesses replace weak password-based credentials with strong hardware-based authentication.”
Yubico also announced that it is now officially possible for hundreds of millions of Microsoft users around the world to log in without a password on their personal Microsoft accounts (MSA) by using a YubiKey 5 or Security Key by Yubico. With the latest update to Windows 10 (version 1809) and existing native support in Edge, all consumer Microsoft accounts now support passwordless login via FIDO2/WebAuthn.
“Yubico continues to create authentication technologies that not only work for today’s authentication scenarios, but into tomorrow’s, helping to bridge the gap from existing solutions to a future of passwordless login. The YubiKey 5 series delivers the same ease of use, high level of security, and durable construction expected from a YubiKey, with added authentication and communication interface functionality,” said Murphy.
The YubiKey 5 Series is the company’s latest product innovation and is comprised of four multi-protocol security keys: YubiKey 5 NFC, YubiKey 5C, YubiKey 5 Nano, and YubiKey 5C Nano. The keys are multi-protocol in design and now introduce FIDO2 support in addition to several other authentication standards including: FIDO U2F, smart card (PIV), Yubico OTP, OpenPGP, OATH-TOTP, OATH-HOTP, and Challenge-Response. All of this is supported on a single device. The YubiKey 5 NFC is also new to the series, incorporating support for all protocols over USB and NFC (near field communication) for new user experiences like tap-and-go authentication across desktop, laptop and mobile with FIDO2.
“Innovation is core to all we do, from the launch of the original YubiKey ten years ago, to the concept of one authentication device across multiple services, and today as we are accelerating into the passwordless era,” said Stina Ehrensvard, CEO and Founder, Yubico. “The YubiKey 5 Series can deliver single-factor, two-factor, or multi-factor secure login, supporting many different uses cases on different platforms for different verticals with a variety of authentication scenarios,” Stina continued.
The YubiKey 5 Series and Security Key by Yubico are available for purchase from local distributor, M.Tech Australia, starting at AUD$61.50. For more information on Yubico and the YubiKey 5 Series, visit www.yubico.com or call APAC regional manager, Tim Murphy on 0418 330000.
About Yubico
Yubico sets new global standards for simple and secure access to computers, mobile devices, servers, and internet accounts. The company’s core invention, the YubiKey, delivers strong hardware protection, with a simple touch, across any number of IT systems and online services. The YubiHSM, Yubico’s ultra-portable hardware security module, protects sensitive data stored in servers. Yubico is a leading contributor to both the FIDO2 and FIDO Universal 2nd Factor open authentication standards, and the company’s technology is deployed and loved by 9 of the top 10 internet brands and by millions of users in 160 countries. Founded in 2007, Yubico is privately held, with offices in Sweden, UK, Germany, USA, Australia, and Singapore. For more information: www.yubico.com
