Google, Apple, Microsoft Join Forces To Change Passwords Forever: Your Phone Will Be Your Password Now!

On May 5, which was the “World Password Day”, Google, Microsoft and Apple joined hands to “kill” the password.

Phone To Replace Passwords

These three technology giant have together sworn that moving forward one’s password is going to be the phone. Phones will be the primary source of online authentication. Referred to as “muti-device FIDO credential”, is the new standard.

There is an alliance called as FIDO Alliance, or Fast Identity Online which is basically an open-source industry association standard that has been created to facilitate, easier and safer authentication online. Recently, these three big giants have extended support to the initiative.

In a blog post the alliance said that one of the biggest security problems on the web is the password only authentication. Not just the management of passwords cumbersome but also it will lead to the consumers reusing it across various services.

This is identified as an unsafe practice and can lead to costly account takeovers, data breaches and stolen identities.

Users will be able to sign-in to their accounts through the new system. “Through the same action that they take multiple times each day to unlock their devices, such as a simple verification of their fingerprint or face, or a device PIN.”

The New Approach

The Alliance said that the new approach will be more secure “compared to passwords and legacy multi-factor technologies such as one-time passcodes sent over SMS” and also protect people against phishing and the logins will be more secure.

Requiring the physical proximity of the device and the user, the new standard will work using Bluetooth in order to safeguard against unwanted account takeovers.

It was also clarified by the Alliance that the Bluetooth would only be used to check the proximity. Also, the sign in process would not require any Bluetooth properties.

This also facilitates companies like Microsoft, Google and Apple to securely store users’ credentials, which can be moved over from one device to another without hassle.

One can still sign-in using your password as a backup, in case one loses their device.

When it comes to securing an account, passwords have long been a problem. In ideal conditions, it would take a long, randomised string of numbers and letters for better protection. However, humans aren’t good at memorising random strings.

In case of creating a comfortable password, the account is vulnerable in case of a hack.

The new standard would “become available across Apple, Google, and Microsoft platforms over the course of the coming year”, the alliance said.