Accessibility has always been synonymous with mobility, and this past week at Mobile ID World there has been no shortage of news in regards to breaking down adoption barriers and eliminating user friction in terms of new authentication.
Right away DigitalPersona announced the selection of its TouchChip TCS1 fingerprint sensor by Toplink Pacific Pte. for use in the new BLUEFiN peripheral authentication unit. The new device brings the accessibility barrier faced by users looking for post-password authentication on current generation smartphones, tablets or laptops and teleports through it. BLUEFiN connects to a bluetooth ready device and allows for fingerprint authentication for a wide variety of applications without requiring users to upgrade to the newest smartphone featuring an embedded sensor.
In a similar vein, Synaptics and Nok Nok Labs announced this week that they will be collaborating to bring an enhanced fingerprint solution to the market. The two founding members of the FIDO Alliance, in a fashion that has become expected by members of the strong authentication consortium Nok Nok Labs and Synaptics cite the current mCommerce experience as a primary reason to make a viable fingerprint biometric solution available to a public that sees online shopping as a hassel.
Nok Nok Labs is also collaborating with Trustonic in a partnership aimed at achieving the same ends. Also announced this week, it comes as no surprise that Nok Nok Labs is found at the center of these cooperative discussions about accessible strong authentication as its Multifactor Authentication Client is a key component to the FIDO Ready certification program. Speaking of which, FIDO’s current specifications were made public this week, in anticipation of the Alliance’s first anniversary.
Microsoft, one of FIDO’s higher profile board members took steps in accessibility as well this week, announcing though the Office blog that Office 365 users now have the option of upgrading their security for no extra cost. In order to provide better-than-password security for login and access control, Microsoft has given subscribers to Office 365 the ability to add multifactor authentication to their accounts by associating a phone or mobile device to act as a secondary lock.
Of course, accessibility and mobility aren’t solely for the benefit of consumers and relying parties. Law enforcement, civic and military sectors are all greatly improved when mobile ID solutions are entered into the equation. Credence ID launched its Trident Tri-Biometric enrollment and verification device this week, which in addition to making biometric enrollment in the field easy and accurate (the Trident can capture face, hand and iris biometric in any quality of light), it also makes application simple too. Operating on Android, Credence ID has bridged the gap between the consumer familiarity with smartphones and mission critical biometric tasks.
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