With PayPal recently announcing the availability of a password generating keyfob for all of its 133 million+ customers, expect keyring or keyfob authentication tokens to play a bigger role in your life. And take up much more space in your life.

PayPal’s token is one of a number of initiatives to increase security and reduce the dangers of identity spoofing by using two-factor authentication to make life a little harder for the bad guys.

If it hasn’t already done so, your bank or credit union may soon be offering you a security keyfob, as may your credit card company and a number of other service providers. These devices work in a variety of ways but generally around the same principals. Instead of forcing you to rely on the ever-vulnerable password, keyfob authentication devices are supposed to add an extra layer of security – by requiring you to have a password and the keyfob in order to gain access; to use the keyfob to securely store your password; or as in the case of PayPal have the keyfob generate a unique one-time password every time you need to access your account.

All great ideas, although not foolproof as we see more evidence of attackers finding ways to spoof these defenses. Not to mention the cost of each device (anywhere from $5 to $50), and the possibility that a typical user may end up having to haul around a handful of these fobs simply to survive in a digital life.