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The UK government has announced it will invest in Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) security methods in its National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021 document.
FIDO access methods eradicate the need for passwords, and support access enabling technology such as biometrics. The FIDO Alliance consists of ARM, Intel, Google and PayPal along with others, who are devoted to reinforcing security access methods to combat the sophisticated rise in cyber crime.
This security document details how the government will deliver stable security solutions using FIDO authentication methods: “We will invest in technologies like Trusted Platform Modules (TPM) and emerging industry standards such as Fast IDentity Online (FIDO), which do not rely on passwords for user authentication, but use the machine and other devices in the user’s possession to authenticate.
“The government will test innovative authentication mechanisms to demonstrate what they can offer, both in terms of security and overall user experience.”
Chancellor Phillip Hammond last week announced the government’s plans to invest £1.9 million in the UK’s cyber security defences.
The National Cyber Security strategy also outlines ways the government intends to tackle native cyber criminals and attacks: “Insider threats remain a cyber risk to organisations in the UK. Malicious insiders, who are employees of an organisation and have access to critical systems and data, pose the greatest threat.
“They can cause financial and reputational damage through the theft of sensitive data and intellectual property. They can also pose as a destructive cyber threat if they use their privileged knowledge, or access, to facilitate, or launch, an attack to disrupt or degrade critical services on the network of their organisations, or wipe data from the network.”
