There’s Now More than 100 Valid Password Alternatives: FIDO

More than 100 online authentication methods have earned Fast Identity Online Alliance certification as the organization's goal of eliminating static passwords gains momentum.

In addition, FIDO authentication is now enabled on devices from the top five global handset manufacturers, the Mountain View, Calif.-based organization said.

“This explosion of FIDO certified products and adoption numbers confirm industrywide endorsement of FIDO as the new strong authentication technology standard,” Brett McDowell, executive director of the FIDO Alliance, stated in a press release. “This increasing availability of FIDO certified solutions creates an unprecedented opportunity for organizations to implement simple, usable and strong authentication and better protect customers, employees and data from the risks of data breaches, hacking and identity theft."

Organizations with new FIDO certified products include DDS, Egis, ETRI, EyeVerify, Feitian Technologies, Gemalto, Huawei, Infineon, Inside Secure, Ledger, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Longmai, Morpho, NXP, Raonsecure, Samsung SDS, Secuve, Watchdata Technologies, Surepass ID and Yubico.

DDS has developed Magatama, a wearable, high-security fingerpint sensor that connects to iOS and Android devices over Bluetooth. The certification makes it possible for Magatama "to add the convenience and security of fingerprint-based FIDO authentication to a wide range of compatible mobile devices," Kenji Miyoshino, CEO of DDS, said in the release.

The FIDO Alliance industry consortium began operation three years ago, seeking to establish products and services that enable individuals and organizations across enterprise, government, healthcare and financial services to eliminate weak username and password-based authentication for e-commerce data security.

FIDO certification covers a range of software and services that add biometrics or other strong authentication methods to online apps and systems. It established its security testing program in May of 2015 to test products supporting the alliance's specifications.In total, FIDO has more than 150 companies or government agencies involved in the alliance. American Express, Infineon and Vasco were the most recent organizations to join FIDO and its board.

The alliance said it wants to expand adoption of FIDO authentication to all platforms and devices, submitting a set of three technical specifications to the World Wide Web Consortium to establish international standards.