Microsoft and Google Demonstrate Password Less Websites

by Jeniffer Leio Excutive

Google and Microsoft, in the recent RSA conference, talked about how they wished that websites would adopt password–less sign in systems by taking the help of android phones and Windows computers.

It might be the time to bid farewell to passwords after all. Some of the largest websites in the world are planning to replace passwords with fingerprint scans and facial recognition which will be powered by Google and Microsoft.

Recently in the RSA security conference held in San Francisco, Google and Microsoft displayed their attempts to assist the internet platforms to go password-free through Android phones and Windows computers.

Do you wish to buy something online? Google demonstrated how the presence of a fingerprint sensor on the Android Smartphone can remodel the login process of Paypal. Entering in a password for the purchase approval will not be needed. With a simple fingerprint scan, you will be signed into your PayPal account.

In the conference, there was talk about how to make the login process more secure and easy on personal computers. With this in mind, Microsoft demonstrated how the Windows Hello has the capability to use the web camera of the computer to read the facial features in order to give access to PayPal account.

Fingerprint scanning and facial recognition features aren’t new and most new smartphones and laptops already have them. However, having big websites to use these security measures is definitely new. Faster Identity Online, commonly abbreviated as FIDO, has been persuading the technology industry to switch from passwords to more safe, simple, and secure ways of login access. Both Google and Microsoft are members of the FIDO alliance.

The exec director of FIDO Alliance Brett McDowell said in an interview that everybody knows that passwords are a problem. Referring to statistics, he said that 81 percent of the data and security breaches in the year 2016 happened due to weak or stolen passwords which fell into the hands of cybercriminals. He further stated that there is a usability issue with passwords. Passwords are not only clumsy but also difficult to remember.

To resolve the password issue, FIDO alliance has come up with FIDO 2.0 which is an innovative norm for login systems. With this new standard, there is no need for passwords for Smartphone and computer. These devices can use biometric system to login to the online account.

The computer or mobile device scans the fingerprint or the face in order to verify the identity. After the verification, a unique private key is generated which will unlock the access of the internet account. One of the major advantages of this biometric system is that websites will neither be aware of nor store your private key.

Google and Microsoft have been rooting for the adoption of FIDO 2.0 by websites. They are working on constructing authentication technologies into their own web browsers. Microsoft added that the subsequent Windows 10 release will support this authentication standard. Nok Nok Labs, a member of the FIDO alliance, is offering assistance to websites so that they can switch their online platforms to password-less systems.

While the fingerprint scanning and facial recognition login technologies which were demonstrated in the RSA conference are still in their pre-manufacture phase, Brett McDowell feels that 2019 might be the big year for the adoption of FIDO 2.0 by actual websites.

Karim Salem, the writer of this article is an experienced digital marketing professional with a keen interest in writing on Microsoft, Outlook, Windows 10 and more. With all his articles and blogs, he focuses on making the readers aware of the latest as well as upcoming technologies in this domain.
Source: 247tollfree.com