WTF IS FIDO?

Is it a very unimaginative name for a dog?

It is, but you’ll do well to train even the most faithful hound to do what FIDO does. It stands for Fast Identity Online – and while that might sound drier than a box of biltong buried in the middle of the Sahara, it’s good news for anyone who uses ‘password1’ for all of their passwords. When you sign up for an account somewhere using FIDO, you’ll pick a username and then use your finger or face (or a PIN, if you avoid biometrics because you think The Man is out to get you) to authenticate. That’s it.

Fair enough, but what’s so bad about passwords anyway?

What’s good about them? They’re hard to remember and easy to steal – and when nefarious types get hold of them, lives are upended. Today, a hack can give someone instant access to millions of passwords. If someone grabs your phone and you’re using FIDO, at worst that will be a problem for you, rather than for millions of others. Even then, the thief still needs to be able to unlock it, because all the log-in info is stored as a passkey inside. Unlikely. It leaves dodgy types with nothing to steal – at least, not at scale.

Sounds like man might have a new best friend…

FIDO’S certainly friendly. It means you don’t need to remember passwords but still demands you are present, removing spoofing and phishing from the equation. And it’s even managed to get Apple, Google and Microsoft to agree on something: all three have committed to expanding support for FIDO, which means it’ll work on Android, IOS, ipados, macos and Windows, along with the Chrome, Edge and Safari browsers. Cynics might grumble they’ve heard all this before, but what was once a dream now seems possible – even probable. Our password-free future can’t come soon enough.