25:
232:(MFA), since both use a wide variety of authentication factors, but while MFA is often used as an added layer of security on top of password-based authentication, passwordless authentication does not require a memorized secret and usually uses just one highly secure factor to authenticate identity (i.e., an external security token), making it faster and simpler for users.
453:– Although it is accepted that passwordless authentication leads to savings in the long term, deployment costs are currently a hindering factor for many potential users. Cost is associated with the need to deploy an authentication mechanism on an existing user directory and sometimes the additional hardware deployed to users (e.g. OTPs or security keys).
299:
Recent technological advancements (e.g. the proliferation of biometric devices and smartphones) and changing business culture (acceptance of biometrics and decentralized workforce for example) is continuously promoting the adoption of passwordless authentication. Leading tech companies (Microsoft,
295:
scheme does worse than passwords on deployability. The authors conclude with the following observation: “Marginal gains are often not sufficient to reach the activation energy necessary to overcome significant transition costs, which may provide the best explanation of why we are likely to live
290:
Bonneau et al. systematically compared web passwords to 35 competing authentication schemes in terms of their usability, deployability, and security. (The technical report is an extended version of the peer-reviewed paper by the same name.) Their analysis shows that most schemes do better than
140:. In most common implementations users are asked to enter their public identifier (username, phone number, email address etc.) and then complete the authentication process by providing a secure proof of identity through a registered device or token.
300:
Google) and industry wide initiatives are developing better architectures and practices to bring it to wider use, with many taking a cautious approach, keeping passwords behind the scenes in some use cases. The development of open standards such as
265:, in 2013 said that "passwords are done at Google." Eric Grosse, VP of security engineering at Google, states that "passwords and simple bearer tokens, such as cookies, are no longer sufficient to keep users safe."
235:"Passwordless MFA" is the term used when both approaches are employed, and the authentication flow is both passwordless and uses multiple factors, providing the highest security level when implemented correctly.
430:– since no password storage and management is needed IT teams are no longer burdened by setting password policies, detecting leaks, resetting forgotten passwords, and complying with password storage regulation.
747:
418:– passwords are known to be a weak point in computer systems (due to reuse, sharing, cracking, spraying etc.) and are regarded a top attack vector responsible for a huge percentage of security breaches.
788:
465:– particularly implementations using OTP or push notifications to cellular device applications can create a challenge for the end user if a device is broken, lost, stolen or simply upgraded.
147:
infrastructure where the public key is provided during registration to the authenticating service (remote server, application or website) while the private key is kept on a user’s device (
983:
459:– while most password management systems are built similarly and have been used for many years, passwordless authentication requires adaptation from both IT teams and end users.
424:– Not only users aren’t required to remember complicated password and comply with different security policies, they are also not required to periodically renew passwords.
755:
345:: When the user's device receives the registration request, it sets up a method for authenticating the user. For example, the device may use biometrics like a
723:
261:, who was the victim of a hacking incident, in 2012 wrote "The age of the password has come to an end." Heather Adkins, manager of Information Security at
780:
436:– since credentials are tied to a specific device or inherent user attribute, they can't be massively used and access management becomes more tight.
332:
A user must first register with a system before their identity can be verified. A passwordless registration flow may include the following steps:
670:
648:
42:
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89:
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said the password "is finally dying" and predicted their replacement by device-based authentication, however, purposefully revealing his
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61:
585:
68:
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said in 2014 "Passwords were dead a few years ago. Now they are more than dead." The reasons given often include reference to the
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1096:
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predicted the demise of passwords saying "they just don't meet the challenge for anything you really want to secure." In 2011
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378:: The server sends an authentication challenge to the user's device when the user attempts to log into the site.
339:: When a user attempts to register with a website, the server sends a registration request to the user's device.
46:
243:
The notion that passwords should become obsolete has been circling in computer science since at least 2004.
392:: The user's device digitally signs a response to the authentication challenge with the user's private key.
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384:: The user proves their identity to their device using the biometric scanner, unlocking their private key.
229:
82:
891:
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predicted that, within five years, "You will never need a password again." Matt Honan, a journalist at
811:"The Quest to Replace Passwords: A Framework for Comparative Evaluation of Web Authentication Schemes"
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560:
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The Quest to
Replace Passwords: A Framework for Comparative Evaluation of Web Authentication Schemes
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considerably longer before seeing the funeral procession for passwords arrive at the cemetery.”
611:
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passwords on security, some schemes do better and some worse with respect to usability, while
841:
748:"Commentary: What I Learned, and What You Should Know, After I Published My Twitter Password"
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442:– managing multiple logins without additional password fatigue or complicated registration.
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Once they have registered, a user can log in to the system via the following process:
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872:. 2012 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. San Francisco, CA. pp. 553–567.
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958:"Passwordless Authentication: A Complete Guide [2022] - Transmit Security"
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password resulted in being forced to change his cellphone number. Avivah Litan of
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496:
214:
984:"No password for Microsoft Account: What does passwordless authentication mean?"
411:
Proponents point out several unique benefits over other authentication methods:
324:
would be available as a WebAuthn platform authenticator for passwordless login.
132:
can log in to a computer system without the entering (and having to remember) a
868:
Bonneau, Joseph; Herley, Cormac; Oorschot, Paul C. van; Stajano, Frank (2012).
809:
Bonneau, Joseph; Herley, Cormac; Oorschot, Paul C. van; Stajano, Frank (2012).
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586:"IBM Reveals Five Innovations That Will Change Our Lives within Five Years"
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612:"Kill the Password: Why a String of Characters Can't Protect us Anymore"
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Some designs might also accept a combination of other factors such as
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have further generated adoption of passwordless technologies such as
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pair and sends the public key to the server for future verification.
24:
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While others point out operational and cost-related disadvantages:
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133:
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280:
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1097:"Issues with Multi-Factor Authentication: PSA for MFA App Users"
1013:"Technology Alliance Says It Is Closer to Killing Off Passwords"
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or another authentication factor which is not knowledge-based.
262:
813:. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory.
802:
867:
808:
713:
1038:"Accelerating the Journey to Passwordless Authentication"
781:"Russian credential theft shows why the password is dead"
252:
228:
Passwordless authentication is sometimes confused with
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Ownership factors (“Something the user has”) such as a
398:: The server uses the user's public key to verify the
143:
Passwordless authentication methods typically rely on
892:"Use passwordless authentication to improve security"
166:
These factors classically fall into two categories:
662:
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
225:, as long as no memorized passwords are involved.
189:Inherence factors (“Something the user is”) like
1124:
669:Grosse, Eric; Upadhyay, Mayank (January 2013).
668:
536:
724:"The Password is Finally Dying. Here's Mine"
641:"Google security exec: 'Passwords are dead'"
287:as well as security problems of passwords.
402:and provides access to the user's account.
159:) and can be accessed only by providing a
406:
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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1006:
1004:
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517:Usability of web authentication systems
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1060:
1058:
561:"Gates predicts death of the password"
539:"Gates predicts death of the password"
1001:
609:
745:
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
18:
1055:
913:"Making authentication even easier"
559:Kotadia, Munir (25 February 2004).
434:Better visibility of credential use
13:
746:Mims, Christopher (15 July 2014).
722:Mims, Christopher (14 July 2014).
14:
1169:
1011:Deighton, Katie (22 March 2022).
588:. IBM. 2011-12-19. Archived from
1095:Smithson, Nigel (June 9, 2020).
779:Vijayan, Jaikumar (2014-08-14).
359:: The user's device generates a
205:and other biometric identifiers.
23:
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950:
934:"Apple Developer Documentation"
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915:. security.googleblog.com. 2019
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791:from the original on 2015-04-02
651:from the original on 2015-04-02
622:from the original on 2015-03-16
343:Authentication factor selection
34:needs additional citations for
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16:Identity authentication method
1:
1066:"Passwordless Authentication"
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457:Training and expertise needed
136:or any other knowledge-based
58:"Passwordless authentication"
1148:Applications of cryptography
537:Munir Kotadia (2004-02-25).
327:
7:
894:. Microsoft.com. 2020-01-28
675:IEEE Security & Privacy
469:
230:multi-factor authentication
122:Passwordless authentication
10:
1174:
238:
671:"Authentication at Scale"
610:Honan, Mat (2012-05-15).
376:Authentication challenge
353:for user identification.
1158:Password authentication
1138:Computer access control
463:Single point of failure
272:The Wall Street Journal
247:, speaking at the 2004
145:public-key cryptography
1133:Authentication methods
849:Cite journal requires
422:Better user experience
407:Benefits and drawbacks
1074:World Economic Forum
687:10.1109/MSP.2012.162
451:Implementation costs
337:Registration request
312:. On June 24, 2020,
43:improve this article
1017:Wall Street Journal
938:developer.apple.com
752:Wall Street Journal
728:Wall Street Journal
502:Password psychology
396:Response validation
382:User authentication
347:fingerprint scanner
219:behavioral patterns
161:biometric signature
878:10.1109/SP.2012.44
389:Challenge response
351:facial recognition
128:method in which a
964:. 13 January 2022
962:Transmit Security
507:Password strength
487:Password cracking
400:digital signature
203:voice recognition
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1103:. Archived from
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492:Password fatigue
428:Reduced IT costs
416:Greater security
267:Christopher Mims
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541:. News.cnet.com
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497:Password policy
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316:announced that
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155:or an external
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357:Key generation
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249:RSA Conference
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184:hardware token
172:cellular phone
157:security token
126:authentication
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41:Please help
36:verification
33:
440:Scalability
365:private key
1127:Categories
1101:sayers.com
943:2020-10-07
919:2020-04-12
898:2020-04-12
795:2015-03-14
738:2015-03-14
655:2015-03-14
626:2015-03-14
596:2015-03-14
545:2020-04-12
524:References
245:Bill Gates
180:smart card
153:smartphone
99:April 2020
69:newspapers
827:1476-2986
328:Mechanism
285:usability
176:OTP token
1080:12 April
1047:12 April
1022:12 April
993:12 April
968:12 April
832:22 March
789:Archived
649:Archived
620:Archived
470:See also
322:Touch ID
306:WebAuthn
223:gestures
134:password
318:Face ID
281:Gartner
277:Twitter
239:History
83:scholar
1111:2 July
825:
762:2 July
705:2 July
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361:public
263:Google
138:secret
124:is an
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691:S2CID
616:Wired
570:8 May
565:ZDNet
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293:every
258:Wired
182:or a
90:JSTOR
76:books
1113:2022
1082:2022
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1024:2022
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855:help
834:2019
823:ISSN
764:2022
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645:CNET
572:2019
304:and
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130:user
62:news
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