Google experiments with password-free logins

Passwords are a pain. Either you have one that's simple and easy to guess, or one that you might struggle to remember. And even then, your account might still get compromised, anyway. Well, Google is working to do away with passwords by offering a new way to login to your account.

The new method that Google is rolling out isn't necessarily a huge breakthrough in security. Rather, it's a new twist on something that they're already doing. Instead of having to punch in a password when you sign into your email (or other Google service), you'll get a notification on your phone. You'll just tap on the notification, and then you're in.

This is basically the same as the company's two-factor authentication, just without the first factor. If you don't have your phone nearby, you can still login using your password. So there's no worrying that if you leave your phone at home, that you won't be getting into your Gmail account at work.

Google is currently only testing this with a select number of people. There's no word on how many people they're inviting currently, or when they will open it up to more people. However, it will be interesting to see if this feature takes off.

VIA: TechCrunch