You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

Yahoo's New Email Option: No Password, No Problem At SXSW, the company unveiled a phone-based, password-free login.

By Carly Okyle

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

FirmBee | Pixabay

There are so many passwords to remember -- email, bank accounts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, news subscriptions, just to name a few. Trying to keep in mind which combination of letters and numbers and symbols goes to what site can be frustrating and time-consuming, which is probably why people routinely use obvious ones that are easy to remember -- and easy to hack.

Knowing this, Yahoo has created a way to permit access to their email without entering passwords, which it introduced at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.

Yahoo's new system allows for a one-time use password to be sent to users' phones on-demand whenever they want to log into their accounts. The company's director of product management, Chris Stoner, explained the steps to using this method in a blog post. Yahoo users can opt in through the security tab on their account information page. While it's only available to users in the United States, there is no word yet on if or when the service will be available internationally.

Related: To Stand Out at SXSW, Give Them Something to Tweet About

This is helpful because it prevents hackers who have guessed one password from having access to various portions of someone's Internet presence, but this one-step process has drawbacks, too. The login key is sent to a user's phone, which means that any lost phone can lead to a hacked email account.

Typically, a two-step process is used. A user will enter a password to access his email, and then a verification code is sent to that user's phone. Once the user enters the code -- usually a short set of random numbers -- their inbox appears.

This new method is "the first step to eliminating passwords," said Dylan Casey, Yahoo's vice president of product management for consumer platforms.

Related: What You Missed (So Far) at SXSW: Flying Cars, Bacon Bourbon Cocktails

Carly Okyle

Assistant Editor, Contributed Content

Carly Okyle is an assistant editor for contributed content at Entrepreneur.com.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

James Clear Explains Why the 'Two Minute Rule' Is the Key to Long-Term Habit Building

The hardest step is usually the first one, he says. So make it short.

Side Hustle

He Took His Side Hustle Full-Time After Being Laid Off From Meta in 2023 — Now He Earns About $200,000 a Year: 'Sweet, Sweet Irony'

When Scott Goodfriend moved from Los Angeles to New York City, he became "obsessed" with the city's culinary offerings — and saw a business opportunity.

Living

Get Your Business a One-Year Sam's Club Membership for Just $14

Shop for office essentials, lunch for the team, appliances, electronics, and more.

Business News

Microsoft's New AI Can Make Photographs Sing and Talk — and It Already Has the Mona Lisa Lip-Syncing

The VASA-1 AI model was not trained on the Mona Lisa but could animate it anyway.

Leadership

You Won't Have a Strong Leadership Presence Until You Master These 5 Attributes

If you are a poor leader internally, you will be a poor leader externally.