Google moves forward in the war against the password and joins the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance, the organisation for a standards-based online security and authentication.
Joining the search giant in the FIDO board are semiconductor vendor NXP and input device CrucialTec.
Formed by Lenovo, PayPal, Nok Nok Labs and Validity on July 2012, FIDO aims to replace passwords with an approach to online security covering everything from biometrics and voice and facial recognition to USB security tokens, NFC, Trusted Platform Modules (TPM) and one-time passwords.
The ultimate goal is to develop an extensible and easily upgradeable open specification allowing interactions within a single infrastructure.
Google is already looking into passwords replacements-- in a January 2013 IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine paper Google security VP Eric Grosse and engineer Mayank Upadhyay outline different proposals for logging into websites, such as SIM cards, authentication keys and NFC-enabled finger rings.
“Along with many in the industry, we feel passwords and simple bearer tokens such as cookies are no longer sufficient to keep users safe,” Grosse and Upadhyay write. “We’ll have to have some form of screen unlock, maybe passwords but maybe something else... But the primary authenticator will be a token like this or some equivalent piece of hardware.”
More FIDO details should be available following the next Alliance member meeting, to take place on 14-16 May 2013.
Go Global Industry Leaders Join FIDO Alliance
