Windows 10 To Adopt Fido Post-Password Protection

[Aerosol]

MICROSOFT HAS REVEALED that the forthcoming Windows 10 operating system, which is currently in live public beta, will support the Fast Identification Online (Fido) security standard.

The Fido Version 1 standard became final in January and is already in use by companies such as Yubico in creating a Universal Second Factor that works across sites using USB or near-field communication, along with fingertip impulses to trigger it.

The adoption of Fido in Windows 10 will allow users to lock down machines, rendering them useless to anyone without a Fido authentication device. This could take the form of USB stick, a biometric or a myriad other forms, some of which are yet to be thought of.

Stina Ehrensvard, CEO and founder of Yubico, told The INQUIRER: "Yubico shares the same mission as the Fido Alliance; to make secure log-in easy and affordable for everyone, and enable one single authentication device to access any number of applications.

"Fido open standards specifications were published only a few months ago, resulting in a thriving ecosystem of chip, device, service, open source and enterprise software providers. The announcement of Fido support in Windows 10 is an important milestone for realising our mission."

Fido was developed in part by Google, and the system is already in place to provide protection to Google accounts. Version 2.0 will be the one that arrives with Windows 10, with further input from Microsoft into the refinements.

Scott Charney, Microsoft's go-to guy for Trustworthy Computing, said at a White House Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Summit at Stanford University that "shaping a cyber-savvy workforce and moving beyond passwords in partnership with the private sector" is one of the company's top priorities.

That, and Judge Dredd helmets.

Fido is already up and running through Bank of America, PayPal and Microsoft sites, and is designed as a fully open standard so that anyone can add the tech to their website credentials.

A Microsoft blog post confirms that the company will work with all Windows sign-in scenarios including software as a service provided by Azure active directory. µ

Can we move away from passwords? Is having an open system like Fido the answer, or should we be creating bespoke solutions? How do you feel about putting all your credentials against one biometric? Let us know below.

*This is the stupidest idea for a password ever. Don't use it.

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