Passwordless apps could drive passwords toward oblivion but not over the cliff

An identity tool startup says it has pushed out passkey software for developers wanting a faster, more customizable authentication for their applications.

Stytch says its Passkeys offering is a competitive platform, one that the vendor hopes is entering a growing market for consumer-focused passkey authentication. Many is the prediction that passwords are dying off as a security tactic but many more are the passwords on sticky notes on monitors.

The company says its customizable API-based software simplifies cross-platform implementations. The customizability enables developers to bury the software within the look and flow of an application.

Company executives claim Bitcorn.com, Apartment Therapy and Homebase as customers.

Meanwhile, passwordless desktop MFA vendor Secret Double Octopus says it has added service to its platform that can give businesses government-level ID verification in a form that is more flexible, simpler and less costly than X.509 certificates.

According to a company press release, the addition of the service “effectively” offers AAL 3 authentication.

Most everyone in business wants to see companies like SDO and Stytch help to kill off passwords, but that end game has been prophesized for decades.

In fact, Mark Weatherford, chief strategy officer for the U.S. nonprofit National Cybersecurity Center, told trade publication Tech Xplore he though passwords were “on the way out” 15 years ago.

While he has grown more optimistic in the intervening years, Weatherford says: “We’re always going to have passwords.” The best that can be hoped for is minimizing them and integrating them in “complementary authentication systems.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  cybersecurity  |  passkeys  |  passwordless authentication  |  passwords  |  Secret Double Octopus  |  Stytch