Apple, Google and Microsoft are teaming up and committed to supporting a new passwordless sign-in standard from the FIDO Alliance and World Wide Web Consortium. This means users can use Fast Identity Online (FIDO) authentication to sign in to an app or a website using a smartphone or tablet.
The trio of tech giants envision a time when “end-to-end” passwordless sign-ins for apps and websites become the norm. Once in place, FIDO authentication reads a user’s biometric scans as a means of signing in. Users may use a facial recognition scan or a finger ID to sign in to a website or app. Alternatively, sign-ins are completed using PINs on a smartphone or tablet.
Plans are in motion to incorporate passwordless features accessible throughout the “coming year.” Most likely, the changes to bring this feature into effect will likely come as a major software update across each respective ecosystem.
FIDO authentication streamlines sign-ins and puts those laundry lists of passwords we have to rest. Additionally, biometric scans and device PINs make it more difficult for scams to succeed in obtaining passwords from unsuspecting users.
In theory, this is a great step towards passwordless ubiquity across ecosystems and platforms. The practice of passwordless sign-ins has already begun. Apple’s App Store already offers Face ID scans as a way to confirm new installs and purchases. Microsoft has also been independently working towards this future.
Via: Engadget
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