A look at the FIDO Alliance's vision of a passwordless future, based on a passkey-like “FIDO credential” manager that lets users easily switch between devices
After a decade of work, the FIDO Alliance says it's found the missing piece in the bridge to a password-free future.
What followed validates the thesis: Google shipped passkeys for all accounts in 2023, and by late 2024 the alliance had formalized portability itself with the Credential Exchange Protocol. The device-switching manager described here was the design answer to the obvious objection — that cryptographic keys tied to one phone would just trade password lock-in for hardware lock-in.
First-order effects
Apple, Google, and Microsoft's platform commitments mean the credential manager's core problem — moving a key off a lost or upgraded device — becomes a shipping requirement for the three vendors controlling nearly all consumer operating systems.
Second-order effects
Once credentials sync across devices and vendors, the ecosystems' own account gravity weakens: a user's login identity no longer has to live inside an Apple ID or Google account, removing one of the strongest retention levers each platform holds.
Third-order effects
If portability keeps advancing along the path from this manager to the Credential Exchange Protocol, website operators can retire passwords entirely rather than run dual systems, and authentication consolidates around FIDO-specified infrastructure instead of per-vendor schemes.
The trend: Authentication is migrating from per-site passwords to portable cryptographic credentials, with the FIDO Alliance's standards — and the big three platforms' adoption of them — setting the interoperability terms.
The article and white paper are high level. This will not eliminate standalone hw authenticators unless people are willing to put all their trust in the platform providers. It will move more sites to use WebAuthn I hope. https://www.wired.com/...
1/4 We released a paper today that outlines the next steps in the evolution of FIDO and #passwordless #authentication adoption: multi-device FIDO credentials https://fidoalliance.org/...
On moving beyond passwords, @google's @christiaanbrand says “Hopefully for the users it will be a small behavioral change, but the technology is a giant leap forward.” https://twitter.com/...
NEW from @lilyhnewman: FIDO Alliance has a new white paper detailing a framework for allowing people to easily switch between devices without relying on passwords with the long-held goal of killing passwords as the basic lynchpin of security https://www.wired.com/... Tip @Techmem…
Death of the Password? FIDO Alliance Reveals Its New Plan. After a decade of work, the FIDO Alliance says it's found the missing piece in the bridge to a password-free future #tech https://www.wired.com/...
.@Google's @christiaanbrand spoke with @WIRED's @lilyhnewman on @FIDOAlliance's latest white paper, “Multi-Device FIDO Credentials.” On whether the industry is making headway towards a #passwordless future Brand says,"I feel like everything is coalescing." https://www.wired.com/.…
@gpwren Every consumer who has used a website for information to purchase something has experienced the password issue. The more you get the more variations of a password you have to remember. Technology finding a way to eliminate that would be welcomed. https://www.wired.com/...
I've seen this tweeted a few times today & I wanted to share 1 big thought/reason why this will not happen any time soon (w/o seeming like I was shaming/ replying to 'source) TRUST... https://www.wired.com/...
this morning FIDO published a white paper that lays out what it thinks are the final elements needed to permanently move away from passwords https://www.wired.com/...
2/4 Multi-device FIDO credentials address current challenges with account recovery for consumer deployments at scale. Our blog explains what these credentials are and what this means for the #passwordless future https://fidoalliance.org/...
3/4 “After a decade of work, the FIDO Alliance says it's found the missing piece in the bridge to a password-free future.” Great story in @Wired by @LilyHayNewman for added context! https://www.wired.com/...
New white paper on going passwordless: @Google's @christiaanbrand talked to @lilyhnewman on how all the pieces are finally in place for FIDO to replace passwords across all our Android, ChromeOS, iOS, Mac, & Windows devices and more (via @WIRED) https://www.wired.com/...
Making unphishable auth easy for developers and users to adopt is so critical, one of the biggest opportunities in digital security/privacy today. This x-tech collaboration is sorely needed and an important step forward! And as usual, great write up from @lilyhnewman https://twit…
How do we kill passwords? If you're using device native capabilities (eg TouchID/WebAuthN), replacing that device almost always means falling back on passwords. According to this @WIRED article, that's changing. #digitalidentity #ciam #cybersecurity https://www.wired.com/...