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Microsoft Extends Its Windows Hello Login Security Features To Apps and the Web (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the the-new-standard dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch regarding the beloved Windows Hello login security features: Microsoft is bringing to Windows apps (and even the web) some of the convenience and security of being able to use the same tech it uses to keep enterprise laptops safe. The idea here is to let you use the same technology that powers "Windows Hello" -- the login security feature of Windows 10 that supports fingerprint scanners, facial recognition and even iris scanners -- to log into other services, as well. This feature probably wouldn't be all that interesting if it only worked for Windows apps, but the company is also extending it to web apps. For now, this feature apparently only works with Microsoft's own Edge browser, but the company says it is compatible with the FIDO 2.0 standard and can theoretically work with any browser.

9 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Huh? by kuzb · · Score: 2

    Does everything have to be a conspiracy?

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    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  2. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Yes. The rules here are:
    - Apple and Google are given cautiously wide berths and acceptance because they control everything now.
    - Microsoft remains perpetually guilty until proven innocent.
    - Mozilla is to be hated no matter what they do.

    That's about the short and skinny of it. Free mod points to be had if you happen to have a standard copypasta "opinion" to share.

  3. Re:Huh? by whipslash · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's almost like Microsoft hosted an annual developers conference today an announced a bunch of news http://www.theverge.com/2016/3...

  4. Wait, let me get this straight.... by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You want me to let a Microsoft browser send my "fingerprint scanners, facial recognition and even iris scanner" credentials across the open Internet as a whizzo convenience feature? (Checks calendar, nope it's only March 31)... Sure! Why not? What could possibly go wrong?

    1. Re:Wait, let me get this straight.... by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 2

      I'm sure it's just authenticating locally on your client and sending login and authentication challenge responses across the net, not the raw biometric data. MS is a lot of things, but I'd have to think that their programmers are not quite that stupid.

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      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  5. The Microsoft slashdot .. by khz6955 · · Score: 2

    Microsoft gets 6 free articles on the main page. Is this what slashdot is reduced to, shilling for the MICROS~1 organization?

    1. Re:The Microsoft slashdot .. by jenningsthecat · · Score: 2

      Microsoft gets 6 free articles on the main page. Is this what slashdot is reduced to, shilling for the MICROS~1 organization?

      Like it or not, (and I decidedly don't like it), Microsoft is still a major force in computing. So it's inevitable that sometimes a bunch of MS articles will show up in one place at one time, like a cancer cluster that turns out to be just a statistical anomaly.

      Please believe me when I say that I understand and feel what you're saying. But shouldn't we give the new Slashdot owners the benefit of the doubt until such time as shilling articles have been a consistent theme for 6 months or so? They haven't been at the helm for that long - cut'em some slack!

      --
      'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
  6. Be nice with some device support by reemul · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm still waiting for someone to sell me a webcam that will work with Hello. There are a tiny number of laptops and tablets with one built in, but despite the technology being announced more than two years ago, there isn't a single stand alone camera that supports it. Supposedly Razer will be offering one in Q2, but no firm date. It doesn't really matter what apps the feature will unlock if no-one has the hardware to ever use it.

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    You're just jealous 'cuz the voices talk to *me*
  7. Yeah, right ... by gstoddart · · Score: 2

    the login security feature of Windows 10 that supports fingerprint scanners, facial recognition and even iris scanners

    Given Microsoft's history with being utterly incompetent at security, why would I trust them, or any other vendor, with biometric information? Why would I want a fucking app or a web page to have access to that stuff?

    I'm sorry, but I neither believe this is any more secure, nor do I believe this isn't going to lead to huge unintended privacy violations or whatever damned server Microsoft keeps this shit on from either being hacked, or subpoenaed by big brother.

    Sorry, but I'll pass on this shit. It serves no value for apps and web pages, and it's being offered by a company who I simply don't trust with the information or the implementation.

    When this gets hacked, expect me to be quite loudly laughing and pointing.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.