Yahoo has launched a new software update for its email app. Among other features like link and video previews and in-app account updating, Yahoo Mail now supports biometric security based on fingerprint scanning.
It uses Android’s native fingerprint authentication, meaning that it’s supported on any Android devices featuring fingerprint sensors. Users who decide to take advantage of the feature will be able to access their email accounts with a tap of their fingers, with the system helping to ensure others are locked out. The embrace of mobile biometric security follows a broader trend, with other major email services like Microsoft Outlook also taking advantage of smartphone fingerprint sensors to offer enhanced security.
The move comes at an awkward time for Yahoo, which recently confirmed that half a billion users’ account credentials had been exposed in a security breach in 2014. The addition of biometric security may offer some relief to users anxious about their account safety, but of course with respect to the just-announced security breach, it comes a couple of years too late.
Sources: Android Police, UberGizmo
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September 26, 2016 – by Alex Perala
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