FIDO2 enables users to leverage common devices to easily authenticate to online services in both mobile and desktop environments. The FIDO2 specifications are the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Authentication (WebAuthn) specification and FIDO Alliance’s corresponding Client-to-Authenticator Protocol (CTAP).
FIDO2 is an extension of FIDO U2F, and offers the same level of high-security based on public key cryptography. FIDO2 offers expanded authentication options including strong single factor (passwordless), strong two factor (2FA), and multi-factor authentication (MFA). With these new capabilities, the YubiKey can entirely replace weak static username/password credentials with strong hardware-backed public/private-key credentials. These credentials cannot be reused, replayed, or shared across services, and are not subject to phishing and MiTM attacks or server breaches.
