Microsoft Edge Preview adds website authentication with face, pin or fingerprint

Edge users can soon login to websites using their fingerprint, their face, a PIN code or a USB key. Microsoft has enabled the ability in an Edge build part of Windows 10 Insider Preview build 17723. Support of the new login methods follows the Web Authentication specification which can also be implemented by other browsers.

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Web Authentication offers  ways of signing in to websites without using a password. Microsoft claims the Web Authentication of Edge supports more authenticators than other browsers. E.g. with Edge it's possible to sign in to websites that support Web Authentication through Windows Hello bio metrics. That means users can authenticate with websites with their face or fingerprint. Besides that, Edge also supports authentication with USB keys that adhere to the FIDO2 standard.

The ultimate goal is to replace password with the new login method. Microsoft states that we trust websites with all kinds of sensitive data but that, “all this data is protected by an ancient security model—the password. But passwords are difficult to remember, and are fundamentally insecure—often re-used, and vulnerable to phishing and cracking.”

With the new login methods, the Redmond company hopes to lead the way to a world without passwords.

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