Apple, Google and Microsoft have announced plans to work on a common sign-in standard created by the FIDO Alliance and World Wide Web Consortium, to replace the classic password. “Working with the industry to establish new, more secure sign-in methods that offer better protection and eliminate the vulnerabilities of passwords is central to our commitment to building products that offer maximum security and a transparent user experience — all with the goal of keeping users’ personal information safe,” said Kurt Knight, senior director of platform product marketing at Apple. The standard is being called either a “multi-device FIDO credential” or just a “passkey.” The new system will allow to sign in to apps and websites in a more convenient way. Users will sign in 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. This could be fingerprint recognition, tools like Apple’s Face ID or possibly something more. Or the app or website you’re logging in to push a request to your phone for authentication. Other aspects will change too, including the credential recovery way.
Possibly the user will be able to sign in on one device by using another nearby device. Probably if you lose your device, you can still recover your accounts by signing in to your big platform-holder account.The press release also states that “Hundreds of technology companies and service providers from around the world” have worked on the standard, which could lead to it getting broad adoption in the future. The FIDO blog post says: “These new capabilities are expected to become available across Apple, Google, and Microsoft platforms over the course of the coming year.”
