Industry Giants Announce a Fix for the Password Mess
FIDO alliance declares the beginning of the end for old-style login authentication.
The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance has announced the final drafts of its 1.0 specifications for next-generation authentication technology. The two specifications are the Universal Authentication Framework (UAF) and Universal 2nd Factor (U2F).
The FIDO Alliance is a consortium of high-tech and online banking companies that have combined forces to solve the problem of replacing the outdated hopelessly insecure username/password paradigm for network authentication. According to FIDO, passwords play a role in up to 76% of all security breaches. The goal of the alliance is to create a universal, open standard for two-factor authentication and other strong authentication techniques that will support interoperability among software systems and network services. Alliance members include Google, Microsoft, Lenovo, Samsung, BlackBerry, and ARM Holdings, as well as credit giants such as Bank of America, MasterCard, Discover Financial Services, and PayPal.
The new specifications provide a roadmap for developing and implementing strong authentication systems. FIDO members have agreed not to enforce any patents related to technologies used in the specifications. According to FIDO president Michael Barrett, “Today, we celebrate an achievement that will define the point at which the old world order of passwords and PINs started to wither and die.”
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.