FIDO2 Sets Gold Standard of Passwordless Authentication, Says Transmit Security

Thanks to the FIDO alliance, passwordless authentication is much safer than basic multi-factor authentication (MFA) and ensures a smoother customer sign-on experience.

Boston,United States - October 4, 2022 /PressCable/ —

Transmit Security, a leading customer identity and access management solutions provider, has lauded FIDO2 as being the gold standard of passwordless authentication. In fact, the business has made this protocol the basis of some of their products, eliminating the need for traditional passwords.

Until recently, identity verification and authentication largely relied on passwords.

However, passwords are historically unsafe, due to several reasons—the main one being that it depends on users making cybersafe choices, whereas people tend to do what’s easiest for them even when the choice is not necessarily safe. The other is that passwords are notoriously easy to “crack”.

For this reason, Fast Identity Online (FIDO) attempted to move authentication away from password-only in 2013.

FIDO made use of three protocols for secure authentication:

– Universal second factor (U2F)

– The universal authentication framework (UAF)

– WebAuthn (a global standard for secure authentication adopted by all leading browsers and platforms) + Client to authenticator protocol (CTAP)

FIDO protocols made authenticating with passwords more secure. Now, FIDO2, which is the next step leading to truly passwordless, builds up on the third protocol, combining WebAuthn and CTAP that can be formally certified.

This protocol allows users to authenticate their identity without using passwords. Instead, they can use the built-in capabilities of their device for verification, for example, fingerprint and face scans (biometrics).

FIDO2 works using public key cryptography techniques which offer a much more secure form of authentication. It works by creating a new key pair on the user’s device when they register for a service.

According to the article, the key pair consists of a private key and a public key. The private key remains with the user, on their device while the public key goes to the service client. When the user wants to log in to the service, they need to provide proof that they own the private key. This can be done by unlocking the certificate on their device through biometric authentication or entering a PIN.

Transmit Security claims that this form of public key authentication checks the user’s identity on their device instead of sending sensitive information across the internet. Since this information is processed on the device and stored locally, it cannot be intercepted. That makes it more secure than a password (which is stored enterprise-side and is transmitted across by the user for verification).

It is also much more convenient than a password, Transmit claims. Forgotten passwords are cited as the leading cause of abandoned shopping carts on e-commerce websites. The FIDO2 protocol allows users to use biometrics on a device of their choice. That is quicker and easier, providing a smoother sign-on experience than remembering and typing out a password.

It also reduces friction in the user journey where a forgotten password can be inconvenient and break the transaction flow.

For the users, it is much easier because they can choose a device they are comfortable with, using biometric authentication that they are already familiar with.

Online authentication is also made more private with FIDO2 since the cryptographic keys are not shared between websites. Each one is unique, so users cannot be tracked as they browse. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, the authentication data never leaves the customer’s device so businesses don’t have access to it.

Transmit Security supports this protocol completely and has used this for its own passwordless multi-factor authentication (MFA) service. This product allows businesses to offer a seamless experience to their customers backed by the security and privacy made possible by FIDO2.

In addition, the product also enables businesses to provide an omnichannel passwordless experience, where they can use their authenticated identity to log into several different channels and services.

Transmit Security offers modular customer identity and access management solutions to businesses, helping them improve customer experience and prevent fraud. Learn more about Transmit Security by visiting: https://www.transmitsecurity.com/

Contact Info:
Name: Ron Binder
Email: Send Email
Organization: Transmit Security
Address: 500 Boylston St, Suite 2570, Boston, Massachusetts 02116, United States
Website: https://www.transmitsecurity.com/

Source: PressCable

Release ID: 89082577

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