Not built on sand – How Modern Authentication Complements Federation

Abstract

Even after 40 years of IT innovations, passwords are still the most widely used authentication method. They are inherently insecure. Neither users nor service providers handle passwords appropriately. On the other hand more than 1 billion Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs) and more than 150 million secure elements have been shipped; microphones and cameras are integrated in most smart phones and fingerprint sensors and Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) are on the rise. There are better ways for authentication than passwords or One- Time-Passwords (OTPs). The Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance has been founded to define an open, interoperable set of mechanisms that reduce the reliance on passwords. We explain how secure hardware in conjunction with a generic protocol can help overcoming today's authentication challenges and how this protocol can be used as a solid basis for federation.