Liam Tung
| September 15, 2021 — 13:06 GMT (14:06 BST)
| Topic: Enterprise Software
The problem with passwords
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Microsoft is extending its passwordless sign-in option from enterprise customers that use Azure Active Directory (AAD) to consumer Microsoft accounts on Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs.
Microsoft apps that still require a password include:
Xbox 360 or earlier Office 2010 or earlier Office for Mac 2011 or earlier Products and services which use IMAP and POP email services Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 1809 or earlier. Some Windows features including Remote Desktop and Credential Manager
The push for passwordless sign-in has been a multi-year effort underway at Microsoft and has required work to develop specifications for FIDO, the organization driving two-factor authentication and passwordless standards, Microsoft Identity corporate vice president, Alex Simons, tells ZDNet.
“That was a modification of the Windows Hello protocol we originally created for Microsoft use. Google and Microsoft submitted that together through FIDO and over time we had a bunch of work and we have today what we know as WebAuthn and all of the supporting standards that make FIDO2 possible.”
Simons explains that the support for passwordless sign-in with consumer Microsoft accounts means that end-users can completely remove passwords as a sign-in option. That, effectively, can close off the threat of password spraying attacks for Microsoft accounts and encourages consumers to use alternative sign-in methods for accessing Microsoft accounts.
“For the first time we’re giving Microsoft account users not just the chance to use passwordless authentication, which they’ve had for years now, but actually the ability to go in and completely remove their passwords. So you can basically block sign-in with passwords to your Microsoft account and always insist on a passwordless factor that could be Windows Hello or a FIDO2 key from partners like YubiKey, or the Authenticator app,” says Simons.
“We’re also pushing Apple and Google to support the standard natively,” he adds.
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Liam Tung
| September 15, 2021 — 13:06 GMT (14:06 BST)
| Topic: Enterprise Software