Forget the password, just use your face — or finger, or iris, for that matter.
With its new operating system, Windows 10, Microsoft will roll out Windows Hello, a biometric authentication system.
{mosads}“You’ll be able to just show your face, or touch your finger, to new devices running Windows 10 and be immediately recognized,” the company said in a blog post.
The major tech firm claims the new system will boost security and reduce password dependency.
“Passwords are the primary method most of us use to protect our personal information, but they are inconvenient and insecure,” Microsoft said.
“Our system enables you to authenticate applications, enterprise content, and even certain online experiences without a password being stored on your device or in a network server at all,” the company added.
The public and private sectors alike have been searching for ways to eliminate the password as the major form of user authentication.
The White House is funding numerous pilot projects in the private sector that it thinks will start to pay wider dividends in 2015.
Tech firms have also made headlines with password alternatives. Just this weekend, Yahoo revealed an “on demand” password feature for its email users. Instead of memorizing a password, users request a time-sensitive code be sent to their phone each time they wish to login.
Microsoft said its new feature will allow password-free access to a wide range of digital services.
“You — uniquely you — plus your device are the keys to your Windows experience, apps, data and even websites and services — not a random assortment of letters and numbers that are easily forgotten, hacked, or written down and pinned to a bulletin board,” the company explained.
Once a device has identified its user through biometric scanning, “you will be able to instantly access a growing set of websites and services across a range of industries — favorite commerce sites, email and social networking services, financial institutions, business networks and more,” Microsoft said.
The user’s biometric data is encrypted and stored locally on the device.
“It is only used to unlock your device,” Microsoft said. “It is never used to authenticate you over the network.”