Yubico Forum

I just got my Yubikey and their primary function is in static password mode, along with a sufficiently secure password I've remembered. That way I get outrageously long passwords and if my yubikey is stolen my accounts are not still safe.

I was considering the NEO so I could use the same password scheme on my Android device. However, I decided against this approach for a number of reasons. Currently, the NEO only supports a single configuration by NFC, so I get only static or OTP but not both. My primary use case is static, in which case a standard NFC tag would do the same job at a much lower cost, and can be more easily protected from longer distance attacks.

However, it just occurred to me that I could also use a USB OTG cable and potentially plug the YubiKey into my phone directly. Has anyone tried this? Does it work as expected?

This would allow me to use the yubikey as standard on Android devices (phone and tablet). Seems very interesting...

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Cheers - Callum.

I never tried something like that myself, buy one of our colleges has an Android tablet with a keyboard docked into it.
This keyboard has an USB port, and the standard Yubikey works fine there.
I think you should be able to make it work with the cable, but as i said i never tried it so i don't know...maybe some other user in the Forum has some experience with that.

-
Tom.

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-Tom

Good to know it works in theory. I'll try to get my hands on an OTG cable here in Bangkok and post back any results I find. Could be awesome, cable + yubikey = android enabled two factor auth...

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Cheers - Callum.

Picked up an OTG cable today and tried it in my Nexus S, no dice. It appears that the Nexus S can't provide enough power to power external devices, and it needs some kind of specific kernel (which I'm not currently running). I could potentially use a Y cable with a power input, but I guess I'd still have the kernel issues. I'll try again if I get an Android tablet...

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Cheers - Callum.

I can confirm this works with Sony Xperia V and Samsung Tab. I guess any device you can plugin a keyboard will work. Just use a normal micro-usb to USB cable.

My workaround for this is yubinotes. I save my static password as an encrypted note, which can only be decoded by the Yubikey OTP. Decrypt, copy and paste.

I just tried a regular Yubikey with my ASUS Fonepad (running Android 4.1.2) through an OTG cable... No luck.

The green light is on, but it doesn't do anything when I press the Yubikey.

I'm getting a Nexus 5 (with NFC support) over the weekend (and already have a Yubikey NEO), so its no biggie, but still.

Check if your devices supports host mode.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... heck&hl=en

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-Tom

I confirm OTG works with the Yubikey on the Nexus 7 (both generations), on the HTC One XL as well as on the HTC Glacier (myTouch4G)

On the Android web site, it says Android host was added in API level 12 http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/usb/package-summary.html

Which means if you are running Android 3.1 Honeycomb (API level 12) or later, it should work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history#Android_3.1_Honeycomb_.28API_level_12.29

Morph

Yubico work also with Motorola Moto G (Kitkat) in OTG mode. And It also work with the Tablet Aurora 2 from hipstreet.