Ask HN: Viable alternatives to passwords on the web?

2 pointsby mattew16 yıl önce2 comments

I use probably 20+ web applications in the context of running my business and my personal life. For me, the current password based authentication/identification systems employed on the web are fundamentally broken. There are simply too many sites to keep track of, and since I access these services on multiple machines (home, work, iPad, iPod touch), its difficult to find a password keeper that works across these platforms.

It seems to me there is a fundamental plumbing opportunity on the interwebs with regard to providing a viable solution for identification and authentication. I know openid has taken a run at this, along with google and others, but none of them have really taken off.

Is anyone out there working on solving this problem? I realize its a big problem, but it seems also to be a big opportunity.

2 comments

wwortiz16 yıl önce

I think everyone is still better off with a password manager system (1password, lastpass, keepass) at this point in time.

OpenID seems to be more troublesome than it is worth and I have avoided registering for one, as well as avoiding those facebook and twitter logins.

It would be interesting to see a largely adopted solution but for some users like me the per site username and password system is still the preferred way to log in.

yuvadam16 yıl önce

OpenID is by far the most comprehensive solution to this issue.

All the key players are there: Google, Yahoo, Facebook, et al - and even then it's not as simple as it seems.

I would put my money on OpenID, nonetheless. It's definitely a mature protocol and gaining traction.