Microsoft Pushes Biometric FIDO2 Authentication In Latest Windows Update

A new Windows 10 update has delivered FIDO2 authentication, with Microsoft placing its Windows Hello biometric authentication platform closer to front and center for end users.

With respect to the latter, Windows’ development team has now placed a Windows Hello setup button right on the OS’s lock screen. It’s clearly a move aimed at encouraging more users to take advantage of the security platform, which is designed to use facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, on compatible devices, for user authentication.

To that same end, the Account Protection page in the Windows Security app has also been upgraded to prompt users to take certain actions in order to improve their security, including things like setting up Windows Hello and a Bluetooth-based smartphone proximity lock called Dynamic Lock.

Perhaps most importantly, Windows 10 users can now use Windows Hello or a security key to sign into online Microsoft services such as OneDrive and the Microsoft Store. It’s the latest sign of support for the FIDO2 authentication standard, which is designed to foster widespread support for post-password authentication based on biometrics and security keys on the web, with Microsoft having announced this summer that FIDO2 authentication had arrived in build 17723 of its Edge browser.

Now, FIDO2 support is even more prominent, and Microsoft is working even harder to nudge Windows users to embrace Windows Hello. That could lead to a great many more end users adopting biometric authentication, and a lot more frustrated password-focused hackers.

Source: Windows Blogs

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November 30, 2018 – by Alex Perala