Microsoft and Yubico are expanding the ongoing partnership between the two companies and will send tens of thousands of Yubico’s YubiKeys to high-profile organizations to help protect their data better.
With the prospect of elections in several large European nations and against the backdrop of 2020’s acrimonious US election, both Yubico and Microsoft believe there has never been a better time to teach high-risk organizations how to protect critical accounts.
Yubico and Microsoft Bolster Election Security
In June 2020, Microsoft and Yubico announced a security partnership designed to bolster protection for people working on political campaigns, regardless of political allegiance. The partnership was an extension of Microsoft’s existing AccountGuard protection tool, designed specifically as part of its Defending Democracy Program.
As part of that campaign, Microsoft partnered with security key company Yubico to deliver “phishing resistant security keys” to thousands of AccountGuard customers.
Ahead of the 2020 US election, Yubico delivered free YubiKeys to AccountGuard customers, giving organizations the chance to bulk out their security, even if they didn’t have access to dedicated security or IT staff.
Talking to MakeUseOf, Yubico CEO and Co-Founder Stina Ehrensvärd said:
It was a proud moment for the Yubico team when we learned that YubiKeys played a critical role in helping to protect the 2020 US presidential and bi-partisan state election campaigns. We are excited to now extend our partnership with Microsoft AccountGuard to offer this same level of security not only to election campaigns in other countries, but also to healthcare workers, journalists, and human rights organizations.
Now, the company is continuing its work with Microsoft, expanding its protections to “international election campaigns, human rights defenders, healthcare workers, journalists, and other high-risk organizations in 31 countries.”
As part of the ongoing partnership, Yubico will deliver 25,000 YubiKeys to Microsoft AccountGuard subscribers, as confirmed on the official Yubico blog. Tom Burt, Corporate Vice President, Customer Security & Trust for Microsoft, said:
Yubico is a valued partner for Microsoft AccountGuard and the YubiKey is our recommended hardware-based multi-factor authentication solution. We’re working with individuals whose security is at risk by sophisticated attackers. Knowing that we can give AccountGuard customers the most advanced form of phishing protection, at no cost, is a tremendous win across the board.
Yubico and Microsoft Providing Protection
There is little doubt that elections across the Western world are coming under increasing attack from a wide range of threats.
Microsoft and Yubico recognize that not every political organization and campaign can afford to utilize expensive security options, which is where cheap-yet-secure hardware like the Yubikey can make a massive difference.