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Google’s already investing in two-factor authentication, but it’s making a bigger commitment to the security method by joining the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance’s board of directors. Founded in-part by heavyweights Lenovo and PayPal, the group envisions a future where an open standard developed by it will lead to interoperable two-step security that can log users into sites and cloud apps across the web — not to mention replace passwords as we know them. While support for USB keys is certainly in the works, the group expects to throw its weight behind the likes of NFC, voice and facial recognition, fingerprint scanners and more. There’s no telling how soon FIDO’s efforts will bear fruit, but the search titan’s support ought to help move things along.

[Image credit: Marc Falardeau, Flickr]

Filed under: Google

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Via: MIT Technology Review

Source: FIDO (PDF)

Over the next few days Microsoft will begin rolling out an overhaul to accounts, which will include a crucial security upgrade: Two-step verification. This will go a long way to preventing hackers from getting into your account and causing all sorts of damage. So if you have a Microsoft Account, you should definitely set the feature up at https://account.live.com/proofs/Manage. More »

It’s your inalienable right, as a citizen of the internet, to curse and swear as creatively as possible at all times. That’s 80-percent of why anyone fires up a browser to begin with. Which is why AT&T’s move to ban naughty language in passwords created no small amount of ire. More »

Have you turned on your Apple ID two-step verification yet? You’ll want to get on that. A report from The Verge indicates that if you haven’t, hackers can change your password with nothing more than your email address and your birthday. More »

Evernote’s massive password reset last week was the most recent demonstration of leaky security around consumer locks and keys. Dropbox, LinkedIn, Twitter and others preceded the Evernote action. These anxiety-producing consumer annoyances occur over a backdrop of increased cyber-attack news. Chinese hackers are spotlighted in many recent disruptions, substantiated by Akamai’s report of originating-attack countries for Q3 2012, which shows China’s percentage of worldwide cyber exploits doubling from the previous quarter.

Precautionary password resets, as in the Evernote case, are minor aggravations. But the larger danger of password insecurity and increased cyber-malice is the swift domino effect that can lead to identity theft of the Mat Honan variety. Absolute personal cyber-security is probably a mirage. But there is not enough public education from industry that might reduce millions of easy targets.

Filed under: Internet, Software

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