New security method, soon no need for Password

On March 4, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recognized WebAuthn as a new authentication standard to replace regular passwords and a way to secure users' online accounts.

WebAuthn (Web Authentication) was first announced in 2018. Currently, WebAuthn is supported by many browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari.

WebAuthn is approaching websites and replacing traditional password methods.(Photo: The Verge).

On the core, WebAuthn allows websites to communicate with security devices and help users log into their security services.

A security device may be a FIDO security key that users only need to plug into a USB port on their computer, or a more complex biometric device (such as a fingerprint scanner, iris scanner) for Verification and permission to login to the account.

However, it is important that WebAuthn is more secure than any user password in most websites and is simpler than the user having to remember the string of characters in the first place.

Now WebAuthn is being added to standard websites after being approved by W3C. In 2018, Dropbox was the first company to use WebAuthn and shortly after Microsoft. According to TheVerge, the password will still be used but after this message WebAuthn may replace future password methods.