Microsoft announces consumers can now go passwordless

passwordless Microsoft
Image by designer491 | Bigstockphoto

Nobody likes passwords. They’re inconvenient. They’re a prime target for attacks. Yet for years they’ve been the most important layer of security for everything in our digital lives—from email to bank accounts, shopping carts to video games.

We are expected to create complex and unique passwords, remember them, and change them frequently, but nobody likes doing that either. In a recent Microsoft Twitter poll, one in five people reported they would rather accidentally “reply all”—which can be monumentally embarrassing—than reset a password.

But what alternative do we have?

For the past couple of years, Microsoft has been saying that the future is passwordless; in March the company announced that passwordless sign-in was generally available for commercial users, bringing the feature to enterprise organizations around the world.   

This week, via a Microsoft security blog by Vasu Jakkal, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security, Compliance, Identity and Management, the company announced consumers can now completely remove passwords from their Microsoft account and choose alternative authentication methods.  

In today’s world where hackers are using tools and techniques like automated password spraying or phishing, passwords make people more susceptible to attacks. Plus, nobody likes passwords, they’re inconvenient. In fact, a new YouGov survey commissioned by Microsoft found that 30% of people stopped using an account or service rather than deal with a password reset.  That same survey showed that nearly a third of respondents’ inability to remember a password is their number one password problem, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.    

By going passwordless with Microsoft, consumers can have more convenient and secure access to their favourite apps and services like Outlook, OneDrive, Family Safety and more.  

Related article: Millennials take security seriously, prefer biometrics over passwords: study

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