Apple, Google and Microsoft look to ditch passwords for good
[May 9, 2022: JD Shavit, The Brighter Side of News]
The US tech giants have announced a new standard that allows people to unlock their mobile phones using biometrics, such as fingerprints and faces. (CREDIT: Creative Commons)
Apple, Google, and Microsoft announced plans to eliminate passwords and replace them with a more secure method of accessing accounts and devices.
Together, the US tech giants have announced a new standard that allows people to unlock their mobile phones using biometrics, such as fingerprints and faces.
"The complete shift to a passwordless world will begin with consumers making it a natural part of their lives," said Microsoft vice president Alex Simons.
"By working together as a community across platforms, we can at last achieve this vision and make significant progress toward eliminating passwords."
Passwords alone are decried as a security problem on the internet, as people keep them overly simple or use the same one repeatedly to make managing many accounts easier.
Websites and devices will be able to incorporate secure, passwordless options into their offerings by adopting standards created by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium, the groups said in a release.
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Passwords replaced with secure keys would thwart phishing scams that trick users into disclosing their log-in credentials, as well as hackers that steal such data.
"Today is an important milestone in the security journey to encourage built-in security best practices and help us move beyond passwords," US cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency director Jen Easterly said.
According to Google product manager and FIDO Alliance president Sampath Srinivas, Android and Chrome software will begin to support password-free log-ins over the coming year.
Apple and Microsoft announced similar plans for secure access to their software.
"This will simplify sign-ins across devices, websites, and applications no matter the platform—without the need for a single password," Srinivas said in a blog post.
"When you sign into a website or app on your phone, you will simply unlock your phone."
"Mobile phones will store a FIDO credential referred to as a "passkey" that will be used to unlock online accounts", Srinivas explained.
"To sign into a website on your computer, you'll just need your phone nearby and you'll simply be prompted to unlock it for access," Srinivas said.
In addition to eliminating passwords, one-time passcodes that are texted or emailed as secondary confirmation were also billed as being more secure than two-factor authentication.
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Tags: #New_Innovations, #Apple, #Microsoft, #Software, #Science, #Google, #Security, #Passwords, #Research, #The_Brighter_Side_of_News
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