International. Microsoft released its decentralized identity credentials for prior public review, and announced that for this development it partnered with different device-based biometrics vendors, according to information presented at its Ignite conference and in a brand blog post.
Azure Active Directory Verifiable Credentials (AAD VC) are designed to provide revocable, user-controlled, and secure credentials that support Zero Trust security strategies. They will do so in part through a partnership with biometric digital ID providers such as Acuant, AU10TIX, Idemia, Jumio, Socure, Onfido and Vu Security, which introduced a multimodal biometric video conferencing solution in December. Partners will work to improve data verifiability and security.
"As part of our commitment to making security as seamless as possible, passwordless authentication is now available for organizations to implement at scale. Your IT administrators, employees, and partners can benefit from increased security and simplicity. We've made it easy to deploy password-free at scale with extended policies that define which authentication methods specific users or groups can use. New reporting capabilities allow you to see the use and adoption of passwordless authentication methods across your organization. To help you simplify and secure remote access, we also released the Temporary Access Pass preview, a time-limited code used to set up and recover a passwordless credential," Microsoft announced on its blog.
Microsoft will release its SDK in the coming weeks to allow developers to build the apps they issue and use the credentials.
Users will be able to use the Microsoft Authenticator app to share college records, diplomas, and professional credentials at first, with plans to expand it to other credentials as new applications are developed.
Microsoft also announced the general availability of passwordless authentication for Azure Active Directory at Ignite, and its passwordless pilot program launched last November in collaboration with AuthenTrend has expanded to cover the growing list of passwordless features supported by Microsoft.
"At Macaw, we are passionate about both innovation and safety. The passwordless campaign organized by Microsoft and AuthenTrend provided us with the opportunity to show our customers the benefits of FIDO2 in practice," says Macaw technology consultant Paul Slijkhuis in a statement on the AuthenTrend website. The ATKey.Pro proved to be a simple passwordless user experience with the highest level of security available on the market today."
