Passwords could soon become a thing of the past as Google mulls the idea of replacing them with physical authentication, using near-field communication (NFC) technology.
Currently used in everything from cameras to heart monitors, NFC technology could soon make working online safer. The concept will see people using NFC smart card-enabled rings or tokens to access their accounts and could turn an Android smartphone with NFC capability into a security-verification device, according to Google.
"We're focused on making authentication more secure, and yet easier to manage," said Google spokesperson Jay Nancarrow, adding NFC trials show that logging in could be much simpler.
According to reports, Eric Grosse, Google VP of security, and engineer, Mayank Upadhyay, have experimented with Yubico's cryptographic card, which slides into a USB reader, authenticating the user with the click of a mouse. However, Grosse and Upadhyay acknowledge that other Web Sites will need to support the approach for it to be successful.
Although Google believes passwords are not secure enough for the Internet today, the company is confident the password will exist in the future, but as a second level of protection. That said, the NFC authentication system has its own security issues, with analysts concerned as to what could happen if the security token of an NFC-enabled smartphone is lost or stolen.
According to Chiranjeev Bordoloi, CEO of Top Patch, a provider of information security products, this kind of updated protection is essential because people tend to use the same password for all their accounts, making them susceptible to cyber crime. This human error, coupled with improvements in hacking technology, has seen a rise in attacks, says Bordoloi.
The notion of carrying around authentication tokens is not a new one, but can be costly and is most common in corporate environments. According to Bordoloi, longer passwords and multi-step verification will likely be more widely implemented before this technology becomes commonplace. Recent research by Carnegie Mellon University has suggested that people should hide poor grammar in their passwords to make their online accounts more secure.
NFC was widely featured at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, with big brands Samsung, Sony and Panasonic showcasing the technology. According to Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi, NFC has moved beyond mobile payments, and the more brands embrace NFC, the more willing the public will be to use it when the ecosystem is ready.
More details on Google's plans for online access authentication will be featured in a research paper in the IEEE Security and Privacy Magazine, due for release at the end of January.
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