Name: Hate passwords? You'll love that Microsoft is making it easier to dump them
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Hate passwords? You'll love that Microsoft is making it easier to dump them

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FollowRoughly 200 million people using Microsoft services already have made the jump past passwords.Stephen ShanklandPrincipal writierStephen Shankland has been a reporter at CNET since 1998 and writes about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.2 min readis updating its widely used cloud computing technology to make it easier for millions of us to dump our passwords.The tech giant is making a standard feature for , a cloud-based service customers can use to handle their employees' login chores, the company said at its on Tuesday. The three-day conference, held online this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is geared for IT and other tech staff who use Microsoft's products.In another update, Microsoft is smoothing out a potential difficulty of going passwordless with a new technology called , which makes it easier for users to enroll in new services without generating a password. It's a one-time, short-term login code IT managers can send users for their initial login. It's also useful for recovering account access in the event of a problem, like losing a key or phone used for login. It's only available as a preview technology so far, though.The software behemoth's effort to move past passwords comes amid growing recognition of their limitations for authentication. We , reuse them and often forget them. When stolen, hackers sell them to anyone who wants to try breaking into our accounts. One security site, , has tallied more than .That's why security professionals are moving to augment passwords with other authentication systems such as biometrics, like Windows Hello or Face ID, and hardware security keys like .Standards developed by the are designed to let you dump passwords altogether. The standards are built into hardware security keys and dovetail with technology like fingerprint or face recognition. They also guard against phishing efforts to steer you to fake websites designed to harvest login information that can be used to steal your money and your identity, because FIDO login credentials only work on the genuine website to which they're linked.Microsoft's efforts at going passwordless are bearing fruit. Roughly 200 million people have enabled , according to Joy Chik, who runs the company's identity products. That's up a third from the as of last May.&nbsp;Many of those still use passwords as a login fallback, Chik said, but starting the spring, Microsoft will let people remove their old passwords and go completely passwordless.Get the CNET Tech Report newsletterStay on top of the latest tech news on Amazon, Windows, Google and more.

FollowRoughly 200 million people using Microsoft services already have made the jump past passwords.Stephen ShanklandPrincipal writierStephen Shankland has been a reporter at CNET since 1998 and writes about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.2 min readis updating its widely used cloud computing technology to make it...

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Stephen Shankland

CNET, formerly Computer Network, is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. Founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition in 2008.

Hate passwords? You'll love that Microsoft is making it easier to dump them

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