Can't Remember Your Online Passwords? Yahoo Just Took the 'First Step to Eliminating' Them

If you're one of those people who's constantly resetting online passwords because you can't remember what they are, you can thank Yahoo for having just taken the "first step" to getting rid of them.

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The company has introduced a type of password on-demand feature that allows users to log into their accounts by having computer-generated passwords sent directly to their smartphones whenever they want to access their accounts, Business Insider reported.

It's a essentially a hybrid two-step verification process that ultimately makes users' accounts more secure. Anyone looking to hack a user's Yahoo account would also need access to that person's phone to receive the computer-generated password.

Yahoo listed the steps users can take to enable the optional on demand password feature on its Tumblr blog. Here's how to set up it up:

1. Sign in to your Yahoo.com account.
2. Click on your name at the top right corner to go to your account information page.
3. Select “Security” in the left bar.
4. Click on the slider for “On-demand passwords” to opt-in.
5. Enter your phone number and Yahoo will send you a verification code.
6. Enter the code and voila!

Your screen will look like this:

Image source: Yahoo.Tumblr.com

Admitting that the industry doesn't do enough to put itself in consumers' shoes, Yahoo's vice president of product management for consumer platforms, Dylan Casey, called the company's latest addition "the first step to eliminating passwords."

But it remains to be seen whether other technology industry giants, such as Apple or Google for example, will follow Yahoo's lead. Such moves could help to limit the number of cases where users' security is compromised – and heightened security could be an attractive feature for future customers.

Apple's Touch ID security feature already offers similar peace of mind by enabling biometric verification on its latest iPhones. It's been reported that Apple could be looking to expand that feature to MacBooks. In that case, Touch ID could become Apple's version of Yahoo's on demand password.

(H/T: Business Insider)

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