New Research Will Move Us Closer to a Passwordless Society

Although they are currently essential to online security and privacy, the days of relying on password protection may be numbered, thanks to Assistant Professor Frank Li and his National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award project.

While passwords have security limitations and can be challenging to use, emerging technologies such as Fast IDentity Online 2 (FIDO2) and other passkey authentication methods provide strong security and usability. For example, if you have ever used your smartphone’s facial recognition feature to log in to your bank account instead of typing out the password, you have used a FIDO2 passkey.

Users and online services, however, have been slow to adopt the new technology despite the benefits. Li’s NSF CAREER Award project addresses this challenge. Along with advancing the technology, Li will also advocate for its use.

“We are not assuming that this technology is coming,” said Li. “It is already here. The challenge is to get people to use this technology.”