Google, Apple, Microsoft commit to extending FIDO support

Google, Apple and Microsoft have announced a joint commitment to improve the security of the World Wide Web by expanding support for a passwordless sign-in standard created by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium.

According to the companies, password-only authentication is one of the biggest and most enduring security problems on the Web.

Because managing so many passwords is cumbersome for consumers, they often resort to reusing passwords across services, which leaves them at risk for costly account takeovers, data breaches and even stolen identities.

The industry-wide collaboration to create sign-in technology that is more convenient and more secure has resulted in the development of expanded standards-based capabilities that will give websites and apps the ability to offer an end-to-end passwordless option.

Users will be able to sign in using the same actions they use to unlock their devices, such as their PIN or face or fingerprint verification.

Microsoft, Apple and Google’s platforms already support FIDO Alliance standards to enable passwordless sign-in on billions of industry-leading devices, but previous implementations require users to sign in to each website or app with each device before they can use passwordless functionality.

Through the new collaboration, the companies will extend these platform implementations to give users two new capabilities for more seamless and secure passwordless sign-ins, such as the ability to automatically access their FIDO sign-in credentials without having to re-enrol every account.

“‘Simpler, stronger authentication’ is not just FIDO Alliance’s tagline — it also has been a guiding principle for our specifications and deployment guidelines,” FIDO Alliance CMO Andrew Shikiar said.

“Ubiquity and usability are critical to seeing multifactor authentication adopted at scale, and we applaud Apple, Google and Microsoft for helping make this objective a reality by committing to support this user-friendly innovation in their platforms and products.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Thomas