Akeeba brings “single touch login” to Joomla with Yubikey

Akeeba is best known for it’s flagship product, Akeeba Backup. However, they don’t stop with making back-ups of your site. The latest, completely free addition to their offering, is a plug-in which integrates the Yubikey token with Joomla 2.5 and above.

A Yubikey is a reasonably priced hardware token, which you plug into your USB port. Upon touching the “golden disk” it sends a one-time password to your computer. Hardware tokens like the Yubikey can do wonders in making authentication safer – and they’re now supported by Joomla!

Single Touch or Two-Factor

When you install and configure the plug-in you can use the Yubikey to log into Joomla. In Joomla 2.5, you can log in by simply touching the Yubikey button – you don’t even need your username. One touch of the button and you’re good to go.

In Joomla 3.2, you can combine your Yubikey with the built in Two-factor authentication, making for a very secure logon. You can configure your account so you need a user name, password, AND a single touch of the gold disk. Secure? You bet.

We’d love to write more in this review, but the concept is so simple we ran out of things to say. Here’s a breakdown:

  • The plug-in is absolutely free.
  • Works in Joomla 2.5 but offers even more features in Joomla 3.2
  • A token costs €22; there’s no setup. Plug it in and it works.

If you can’t wait to test this out for yourself, here’s two essential links:

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