Why FIDO holds the Key to a Password-Less Future?
Tags: Password Less Future, Sawo Labs, Fido2, Fio Protocol, Authentication

A majority of people manage so many aspects of their lives on their smartphones quite smoothly. This is one device that they carry with them wherever they go. They use their phone for almost everything. But Fast Identity Online (FIDO) is all set to change our dependence on passwords in order to secure us with minimum fuss and maximum privacy.

First, let’s understand what FIDO is.

FIDO is a set of technical specifications for mechanisms of authenticating users to online services that do not depend on passwords. For enabling strong user authentication and reducing the reliance on passwords, its authentication seeks to use the native security capabilities of the user device. Two major protocols are defined by FIDO:

1. Universal Authentication Framework (UAF) Protocol

2. Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) Protocol

3. FIDO2

You probably have a collection of multi-factor methods on your smartphone if you are even moderately active with technology and on the internet in the last couple of years. For signing into various apps, you may be having Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Okta Verify, IBM Verify, Duo Mobile, etc. on your phone as the gatekeeper. Along with that, probably your SMS history is overflowing with a collection of banking, online shopping, and other access codes that allow you to log in to other internet services. Thus, it is clear that your phone has so much of your personal detail that is the key to your identity.

Your phone houses so much important information about you, these applications, online services, and a lot more. A layer of security is provided by multifactor authentication while entering these services. But passwords are not the safest method of protecting your data. Here arises the need for FIDO, which aims to change all of that by reducing dependence on passwords with authentication that is more secure, private, and easier to use. Its goal is to ensure minimum fuss and maximum privacy by providing users with an easy way of authenticating them to their online services.

FIDO encompasses a collection of protocols. FIDO Security Key is universal across all of these specifications. This key means hardware or software authenticators allowing users to be cryptographically authenticated without needing a password. Unique cryptographic keys are generated by a FIDO security key without delving too deep into the technology. Thus, FIDO holds the key to a password-less future.

To enable password-less login, SAWO follows the FIDO protocol. The protocols are designed to protect the privacy of all our users. In order to create an end-to-end secure authentication experience, it uses public-key cryptography standards. A private key is dropped in the user’s device when he/she attempts to authenticate via a SAWO-powered platform. In case, when the session is stored or the user does not log out from a shopping site, etc., the private key stored on their end is triggered the next time they migrate to an app powered by SAWO’s authentication solutions. The trigger processes occur every time you interact with an app that has SAWO’s authentication deployed. In this whole process, the end-users do not interact with SAWO as a service/portal. They are not redirected to its website, social platforms, or other allied portals. For additional security, they can simply use their phone device’s screen-lock, security code, or pattern feature.

Even if your user base is more than 100,000, SAWO can help you create a customised plan suiting all your authentication needs. Its web SDK is available in JavaScript and can be employed on websites built on React and other JS frameworks. SAWO’s mobile SDK is available on Android, iOS, and React Native. Support for Flutter and Unity is in the pipeline and coming soon.