Paypal is rolling out Security Key

Paypal is adding an optional Security Key to their service.. See the announcement here. This is great since it generates a new "token" every 30 seconds so no one can access your Paypal account even if they managed to get your user id and password without this device.

I've tried to order one, but it never seems to be available... Maybe the Beta test is restricted to those in the US?

just started to order a key, but found out. PP charges $5 for setup.

what a crock of sh*t charging for security after charging PP user the kind of fee's we pay already.

I also saw the announcement, what I dont clearly understand yet is what to do in case the key is stolen or lost, there is no clear explanation about this.

I can live with the $5 fee if the solution is good


Pablo

That technology has been in use for almost 20 years in the computer field. It's known as "two factor authentication". The SecurID was the first I used sometime around 1987.

It's benefit is that a thief who gets your password and the key code (via phishing, etc) can only use it during a 30 second window. Most thieves are not that fast.

If it's stolen, the thief also needs your paypal login and password before it's useful.

The down side is that you may end up with a dozen of these (one for each credit card and online account) that you have to keep track of.

They used to make them deliberately delicate so they would be destryed if someone tried to reverse engineer them.

Daniel

gregw said:

I've tried to order one, but it never seems to be available... Maybe the Beta test is restricted to those in the US?

Click to expand...

Works fine for Australia. A$7.50. I bet you need one for each different account. Just checked looks like you do need one for each account.
Norm

Pablo, if you can answer the security question you don't need the key, and turn it off once logged in.

I assume you can contact Paypal about getting a replacement.

guys, thanks for the info, I will definitely try to get one of these, I think the extra security is worth dealing with the hassle factor.

Paypal is a really useful service, and this just really improves security which is a perennial worry - being able to send/receive money just using email addresses and not sharing the actual financial data, that's an excellent service to begin with, but is vulnerable to security breaches (especially through the computer you are using which may not even be your own or under your control at all times).

this security token ratchets up security a lot!

again, thanks for the info and links!

Anyone get theirs yet?

Yes had mine for a couple of weeks, easy to use, no problems so far, you can also use the same key for your ebay account.
Norm

I qualified to receive one at no cost, so I went ahead and ordered it

How long it took to receive yours Norm?


Pablo

Gee, just what we need, another layer of hassle with PayPal.

Will it stop them from sending packages to previous addresses?

It's really quite easy to use...after name & password - push the button & enter the number. Just another layer - can't hurt - I think?

Sigman said:

It's really quite easy to use...after name & password - push the button & enter the number. Just another layer - can't hurt - I think?

Click to expand...

Oh I'm sure it's easy to setup. And it's a good idea.

But after several experiences with PayPal's so-called security I'm very skeptical. It hasn't resulted in lost money, yet, but it has resulted in either not being able to use PP for long periods of time while I wait for something to be mailed to me, or having things shipped to the wrong address because PP decided to revert to an old address without telling me.