AU10TIX, Microsoft team on reusable decentralized digital identification

A robust ID solution that promises cost savings for businesses and better privacy for users was announced on Monday by AU10TIX, an Israeli identity verification and management company.

The company said it was working with Microsoft on reusable identification, a technology that uses verifiable credentials to enable businesses to simplify and accelerate ongoing identity verification, reduce the cost of customer onboarding, automate workflows and improve security of sensitive data.

Additionally, it allows users to store their information locally in a tamper-proof digital wallet that gives them control over information disclosed to third parties.

AU10TIX explained that verifiable credentials are reusable, unalterable digital credentials that prove the identity of a person or entity and enable the secure sharing of personal documents and business information. biometric identification.

The architecture of verifiable credentials also gives users the self-sovereignty to share only the right credentials on demand for actions such as opening an account, applying to college, and paying for fees. taxes, he added.

“Creating tamper-proof digital IDs is important because it enables secure, tamper-proof identity verification,” said Mark Brady, AU10TIX vice president for emerging products.

“Digital credentials can be easily altered or tampered with, posing a significant risk to identity verification processes,” he told TechNewsWorld.

“Imalterable digital credentials ensure that an individual’s identity is verified accurately and securely,” he continued, “which is particularly important in areas such as financial services, health care and government”.

Upgrade check

Digital credentials go beyond a simple username and password by linking a person’s physical self to their digital representation, explained Karen Walsh, director of Allegro Solutions, a cybersecurity consulting firm in West Hartford, Connecticut.

“A digital ID can link personal documents, like a social security card or passport, and biometric data, like facial ID or fingerprints,” she told TechNewsWorld.

“However, the reusable ID would give companies a way to embed HR documents alongside this biometric data, improving verification,” she said.

“With typical authentication, you ensure that a user is who they say they are, but you rely on them to authentically identify themselves,” she continued. “With Reusable ID, Microsoft is going to be able to verify that initial ‘who they claim to be’ with government documents.”

Microsoft senior product manager Deepak Marda explained in a statement that the reusable ID will be used in his company’s third-party onboarding flow to streamline the repeated validation of user identity verification at critical steps while preventing fraudulent activity and ensuring regulatory compliance.

“Decentralized identity verification is a key imperative in the digital world, and the AU10TIX solution will increase security while reducing friction in the online identity verification process,” he added.

Broken promise?

Decentralized credentials are an attempt to give tangible control of a digital credential to the user using it, noted Roger Grimes, a defense evangelist at KnowBe4, a security awareness training provider in Clearwater, in Florida.

“The real challenge with digital IDs is whether they can really be decentralized or what percentage of them can really be decentralized,” he told TechNewsWorld.

Like the promise of crypto and decentralized finance, he continued, true decentralization never happened. “For a myriad of reasons,” he said, “most so-called decentralized DeFi turned out to have more centralized control than the traditional things they were replacing.”

“True decentralization of everything is difficult, and IDs are no different,” he said. “Most people don’t want to bother with maintaining and securing their own credentials. They just want to use them and make them work.

He claimed that the digital ID standards proposed by the World Wide Web Consortium could lead to truly decentralized IDs, but he wondered if the standards would have lasting power.

“Will they be adopted by a significant percentage of users, or will they only be used by a very small percentage of privacy fanatics and no one else?” He asked.

“We don’t know yet,” he added, “but if history is a lesson, then the promise of digital IDs is greater than the number of people who will use them. I hope I’m wrong. .

Age-old disadvantages

Brady noted that cost has been a barrier in the past to the widespread adoption of secure verification methods, such as the use of tokens. “Additionally, there may be resistance from users who are unfamiliar with using hardware tokens and prefer the convenience of traditional forms of identity verification,” he added.

David McNeely, CTO of Delinea, a global privileged access management provider, pointed out that digital IDs have been around for years in the form of PKI certificates and FIDO authentication mechanisms.

“However, we need a better way for users to create and verify their own identity, as well as giving users more control over the information presented during the account creation process,” he said. at TechNewsWorld.

“There are many upsides, but there are also some of the age-old downsides that will accompany us as we transition to digital identity,” added James E. Lee, chief operating officer of the Identity Theft Resource Center, an organization nonprofit dedicated to minimizing the risk and mitigating the impact of identity compromise and crime, in San Diego, CA.

“Digital identities are more secure and more privacy-centric, but there is no such thing as an unalterable credential,” he told TechNewsWorld. “There is always a way around it.”

Improve cybersecurity

Lee praised the AU10TIX/Microsoft company. “It’s a step in the direction we’ve been seeing for some time, with FIDO, with access keys instead of passwords,” he said.

“If you’re moving towards an identity based on a secure transaction using tokens,” he continued, “it will be a more secure process and result in a more secure outcome than just handing over permits for conduct.”

“One of the things we’re seeing is a dramatic increase in driver’s license data being targeted by cyberattacks,” he added. “We are seeing data breaches being committed specifically to obtain driving license information. That wouldn’t happen with a digital credential.

Brady noted that better credential management could improve cybersecurity by reducing the risk of identity theft and fraud.

“By using more secure and tamper-proof digital credentials, organizations can ensure that only authorized users can access their sensitive data and systems,” he said. “This reduces the likelihood of security breaches and helps protect against cyber threats.”

“Better credential management also simplifies identity verification processes, making it easier for organizations to manage access to their resources and reduce the risk of unauthorized access,” he said. he adds.