Google: Passwords "no longer sufficient" to ensure security of Internet users

Google: Passwords "no longer sufficient" to ensure security of Internet users

According to a Wired report, Web search biggie Google has - in a paper to be published later this month - put forth a fervent argument for replacing the traditional Internet `password' mechanism with a physical token, like a "smart ring" or a card which can connect to the computer through the USB slot.

As per the Wired report, the paper has been co-authored by Google's VP of security Eric Grosse and engineer Mayank Upadhyay; and will be published in a forthcoming edition of the journal IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine.

In the paper, Grosse and Upadhyay have chiefly outlined their vision for an Internet scenario sans any passwords. Drawing attention to the fact that passwords have proved to be one of the weakest points of digital security, the Google executives have emphasized the need for dedicated devices; thus making a case for the abolition of passwords.

Highlighting the difficulty which most Internet users have in creating as well as remembering strong and unique passwords for their different online services, Grosse and Upadhyay have said in the paper that they, like a number of other people in the Internet industry, are of the opinion that "passwords and simple bearer tokens such as cookies are no longer sufficient to keep users safe."

Proposing an alternative to passwords, Grosse and Upadhyay have reportedly said in the paper: "We'd like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorise a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity."

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