Making the passwordless future a reality will require more tech vendors to provide services and devices that support user-friendly passwordless authentication.
Microsoft can turn any iOS or Android phone into a robust and passwordless credential by allowing users to sign into any platform or browser through the Microsoft Authenticator app.
Users can also use Windows Hello to log into their Microsoft apps on their dedicated Windows computers. Also, Microsoft offers FIDO2-compliant security keys, which are helpful to users who sign in to shared machines like kiosks in situations where phones are restricted, and for highly privileged identities.
“In the past year, threat actors have continued to take advantage of vulnerabilities exposed during the pandemic and continue to do so as we move into a hybrid work environment. We will continue prioritising managing the prevalence and complexity of various attack methods and increasing nation-state cyber resiliency while keeping our customers safe. This means investing in continued innovation across our security solutions from Windows Hello to Microsoft Defender, which brings together machine learning, in-depth threat resistance research and the Microsoft Cloud to protect any organisation from hardware to chip to the cloud,” says Microsoft Singapore chief security officer Dennis Chung.
Besides Microsoft, consumer electronics manufacturer OPPO has also integrated the FIDO2 authentication solution within its products’ secure environment.
“We [are working to] provide more user-friendly and secure biometric identification methods so that users can have a smoother passwordless login experience. For the long term, we plan to use OPPO mobile devices as a secure authenticator that can provide strong, secure and user-friendly passwordless authentication across different platforms, including tablets, TVs, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and desktops,” says OPPO Software Security director Andrew Wang.
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He continues: “[To help drive the adoption of passwordless authentication further,] OPPO actively joins different technical working groups for IoT, biometrics, and FIDO2 within the FIDO alliance. We will continue to drive innovation and provide better user experience and security levels for passwordless solutions. We are also investing in the secure protection of FIDO private keys and using blockchain technology together with FIDO to onboard IoT devices (FIDO Device Onboard, FDO) or passkeys for OPPO users.
“Passkeys play an important role as a catalyst that speeds up the chemical reaction of adopting FIDO solutions. They can solve the cross-device usability and security challenges with account recovery, which makes it easier for users to switch between devices and upgrade to new ones."
