Apple, Google and Microsoft team up to support passwordless sign-in

Microsoft, Apple and Google have teamed up to expand support for a passwordless login standard created by the FIDO Alliance, an open industry association and the World Wide Web Consortium.

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The new standard will enable websites and apps to offer consistent, secure, password-free logins to users across devices and platforms, the association said in a statement.

Multi-device FIDO credentials called passkeys will allow users to log in by authenticating with their face, fingerprint or device PIN, said Vasu Jakkal, vice president of Microsoft. , in a blog post.

Users can use their FIDO login credentials or “access key” on any of their devices, including new ones, without having to re-register for each account. According to FIDO, they can log into an app or website on almost any device, regardless of the operating system or browser the device is using.

For example, users can sign in to a Google Chrome browser running on Microsoft Windows, using a password on an Apple device.

Previously, users had to log in to every website or app with every device before they could use the passwordless feature.

These new features are expected to be available on Apple, Google, and Microsoft platforms later this year.

The new approach protects against phishing and makes logins more secure compared to passwords and legacy multi-factor technologies like one-time passcodes sent via SMS, depending on the FIDO version.

“Passwords are not only difficult to remember and follow, but they are also one of the most common entry points for attackers,” Jakkal noted.

He estimated that there are 921 password attacks every second, the frequency of which has nearly doubled in the past 12 months.