Passwords have been around for ages (“what’s the magic word?”) and were first introduced on computers back in the 60s. But industry leaders are paving the way for a password-free (or password-limited) future.
This week, Apple, Google, and Microsoft announced plans to collaborate on a common sign-in standard created by the World Wide Web Consortium and FIDO Alliance, an organization that launched in February 2013. FIDO’s stated mission is to develop and promote authentication standards that “help reduce the world’s over-reliance on passwords.” According to FIDO, passwords, which people often re-use, are behind more than 80 percent of data breaches.
