Google: Let's Get Rid of Passwords

Want to log into Gmail by tapping a ring on your computer? So do Google executives who consider passwords a weak form of security, Wired reports. Google Vice President of Security Eric Grosse and engineer Mayank Upadhyay say that so far, the company is trying out USB sticks that log users into a modified form of Google with a single mouse click. But wireless solutions may not be far off: "We’d like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorize a new computer via a tap on the computer," they write in a new report.

Their goal: avoid nightmares like the one that befell Wired journalist Mat Honan, whose entire electronic life (Gmail, Twitter, iPhone, iPad, laptop) was taken over by hackers last year. Online crooks have also found ways around Google's two-step authentication, which sends users a new code by text message when anyone logs into an account on a new computer. But the Googlers admit that their solutions will "remain speculative until we’ve proven large scale acceptance." Only problem with the ring thing: Make sure to report it stolen the moment it's gone. (More Google stories.)