Microsoft Moves Windows 10 Closer To A Future Without Passwords

'Microsoft has very quietly confirmed the death of Windows 10 passwords this week,' claims Forbes -- though I think they may be overstating things a bit:
Microsoft's crypto, identity and authentication team group manager, Yogesh Mehta, has made an announcement that he says puts 'the 800 million people who use Windows 10 one step closer to a world without passwords....'
Mehta confirmed that with the release of the forthcoming Windows 10 May update, Windows Hello becomes a fully FIDO2 certified authenticator... [Windows Hello is 'a biometrics-based technology that enables Windows 10 users to authenticate secure access to their devices, apps, online services and networks with just a fingerprint, iris scan or facial recognition.']

So does the arrival of FIDO2 certification for Windows 10 mean that passwords are now dead? Not quite. The death of the password for Window 10 could yet be a lingering and painful one. 'We encourage companies and software developers to adopt a strategy for achieving a passwordless future and start today by supporting password alternatives such as Windows Hello,' Mehta says, before admitting that to arrive in this future requires 'interoperable solutions that work across all industry platforms and browsers.'
I say painful, by the way, as there will no doubt be no shortage of stories about password security fails until the final nail is hammered into this authentication coffin.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.