Home / Companies / GitHub / Blog / Post Details
Content Deep Dive

Soft U2F

Blog post from GitHub

Post Details
Company
Date Published
Author
Ben Toews
Word Count
363
Company Posts That Month
23
Language
English
Hacker News Points
-
Post removed?
No
Summary

GitHub has introduced Soft U2F, a software-based U2F authenticator for macOS, to encourage wider adoption of FIDO U2F second factor authentication by eliminating the need for a physical device. This initiative follows GitHub's previous implementation of TOTP-based two-factor authentication, with U2F offering a superior user experience and addressing security issues associated with TOTP. Soft U2F functions by emulating a HID device, allowing it to interact with U2F-enabled browsers and compatible websites, with key storage managed through the macOS Keychain. While hardware key storage is typically more secure as it protects against malware access, the software-based U2F still provides substantial defense against common cyber threats like password dumps and phishing. Despite potential security trade-offs, many users may find the convenience of Soft U2F appealing.

Trends Found in this Post

No tracked trend matches for this post yet.

Use This Data

Use this post, company, and trend context to find content marketing opportunities, perform competitive analysis, or address product feature gaps via the Plushcap MCP server or the Plushcap API.