Dear passwords: Forget you. Here's what is going to protect us instead

Do you hate remembering passwords? Soon, you may forget them for good.

For years, we've been sharing it on the computer to prove what we say. But passwords are easily compromised by phishing scams or malware, data breaches, or some simple social engineering. Once in the wrong hands, these thin wires serve to land us all over the Internet.

Gradually, we are killing the password habit. With data breaches costing billions, there is pressure to find more foolproof ways to verify one's identity.

"We are moving into a password-free world, which is the ability for our applications, devices and computers to identify ourselves with something other than old-fashioned passwords," said Cisco Officer Wolfgang Goerlich Advisor, Chief Information Security. - Secure security company Duo.

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It is difficult to imitate new forms of identity: either we (such as our facial image or our toe lines) or what we have (physical objects such as security keys).

Intuit, for example, allows users to register their mobile application with their phone's passcode instead of fingerprint or face recognition or password. Your fingerprint or screen lock can access some Google services on Pixel and Android 7+ devices.

Goerlich predicts that within five years, we will be able to log into our online accounts in the same way as unlocking our phones. And then we can finally break it down with a password for good.


According to Vijay Balasubramanian, CEO of Voice Authentication and Security Company, PinDrop, any system that relies on a single item is not secure enough. Biometric information such as iris scans or fingerprints can also be stolen and you cannot change them.

Balasubramanian uses a variety of information to confirm identity. Machines analyze our speech patterns or scan our fingerprints. We also identify ourselves (our mobile devices, computers, key cards, Phoebes or tokens) and everything we do (our movements and position, our behaviors and habits, how we type).

If it sounds more offensive than sharing some random knowledge, such as our mom's first name or pin number, it is. But as Balasubramanian argues, these trade-offs are necessary to transform our personal information into a hyper-connected world.

"It's scary, but," he says, "it's time for consumers to seek a higher level of privacy and security."

Password overload
From ancient times and in the early days of the Internet, they made a lot of sense to tell a friend from the enemy.

We started with a few passwords to use our email, some e-commerce sites, maybe an online subscription or both. But soon, we are shifting our entire existence to the cloud, storing our medical and financial information, our children's photos and our intimate environments.

And every time we click on a link or download an app, we have to come up with a different password. Since there are more devices connected to the Internet, from home surveillance systems to thermostats, we kill password overload.

According to Password Manager Last Pass, people today have an average of 85 passwords to keep track of. Our brains are not wired to remove specific passwords for most online accounts. So we reuse and share them. We write them in a Post-It or Word document. We sign in with Facebook or Google. We pulled out a few bucks for the Digital Password Manager.
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But data breaches continue to spread. So we asked for better passwords, longer and more random ones (use special characters). We were prompted to initiate two-factor authentication. We've been doing a lot about all of this, and our collective frustration has become a popular Internet contest: "Sorry your password should have a capital letter, two numbers, a symbol, a motivational message, a spell, a gang sign, a hieroglyph and a virgin girl's blood."

Password fans are only hackers and identity thieves. Fernando Corbetto, the inventor who helped create the first computer password in the early 1960s, was also a blocker before he died.

Corbetto told the Wall Street Journal in 2014 that he put his passwords in dozens of three typed pages. He called the current state of password security "a nightmare."

"Passwords are a 60-year solution, built on a 5,000-year-old idea," says Jonas Stein, co-founder of UNSProject, which allows you to access your accounts. "Everyday life demands that we create and remember a new password for almost every job - reading the news, paying the bills, or ordering a pizza. The ease of online breaks down practical authentication solutions of virtual security with best practices."

Are we really more than passwords?
So do passwords eventually go into the eight track tape? Over the years, the news of his death has been exaggerated. Tech leaders have never taken threats on promises to remove passwords.

"Over time, there is no doubt that people are becoming less dependent on passwords," Microsoft billionaire founder Bill Gates said at a 2004 RSA conference. "People use the same system on different systems, they write to them and they don't face the challenge of what you really want to protect."

So what's been happening lately? There are many options around and there is no consensus on what works best.

Companies interested in our Eyeball and our business are ready for solutions that balance the convenience and security. Security experts say security costs are skyrocketing, and as consumer confidence grows, the industry is under pressure to close our accounts. According to research firm Gartner, by 2023, 30% of companies will use at least one type of authentication without passwords, a significant increase from 5% today.

One of the world's leading proponents of the password-free FIDO Alliance for Fast Identity Online. The heavyweight consortium from Google to Microsoft is developing technical standards for verifying identity. Apple recently joined the FIDO Alliance, which has further impacted the group.

We can't lose passwords overnight, but, according to FIDO Alliance Executive Director Andrew Schickear, "the inevitability is now."

"Businesses realize these pain points and are motivated to come up with solutions that do not rely on old verification methods," he said.

The industry is working with "really unprecedented" solutions, Shaker said. “This kind of cooperation is not only one way but a very good sign