OneAuth Reborn: Say Hello To Passwordless Sign-in

"The password needs to be at least 8 characters long, with upper case and lower case alphabets, numbers, and special symbols."

 How many times have you read this message and tried to come up with a strong password, only to forget it a week later? Granted, some of you may have saved it somewhere or may be using a password manager like Zoho Vault. However, for the vast majority of us, passwords are difficult to keep track of, especially if you use multiple accounts for various websites. However, with the ever-growing advances in technology, there is a way for you to sign in to your account without a password.

 Introducing passwordless authentication 

Passwordless sign-in is a secure way to access your account, without the hassle of trying to remember your password. At Zoho, we pride ourselves on providing our users freedom from passwords, without compromising on security.

 How, you ask? Well, let's talk about OneAuth, the only tool you need for all things authentication. We launched OneAuth in 2018 and since then, we've added some new and exciting features, including passwordless sign-in.

What does "going passwordless" mean?

Simply put, "going passwordless" means signing in to your account without typing in a password.

 Passwordless authentication refers to methods of verifying a user's identity without the traditional use of passwords. The identity of the user can be confirmed with a push notification sent to their mobile device, a hardware token they possess, or their biometric signature like face recognition or fingerprint ID.

Why go passwordless?

Recently, Stefan Thomas, a German programmer based in San Francisco, became famous when news broke out that he forgot the password to unlock his bitcoin fortune, which is valued at approximately 220 million USD. He allegedly wrote down his password on a piece of paper (a very insecure method, by the way) which he no longer has in his possession, and he has two attempts left to get his password right before losing his fortune forever.

Predicaments like this offer an explanation as to why organizations and individuals around the world are making the move towards passwordless authentication.

According to a recent report by research firm VansonBourne, 92% of IT professionals believe that going passwordless is the future for any organization. On the contrary, 85% believe that passwords aren't going to disappear entirely either. Instead, there needs to be a healthy balance between the two. Passwords and passwordless sign-in work better when they go hand-in-hand.

Indeed, organizations are looking at a future where their IT departments prefer passwordless authentication for all employees. It is user-friendly and easy to enable, especially with the advent of biometric technology and authentication keys like YubiKey.

Moreover, let's not forget that password breaches make companies vulnerable to data loss. With every new phishing attack an employee falls for, the organization's credibility sinks and customers begin to lose trust.

The benefits of going passwordless

Better user experience 

The need to remember complex passwords no longer exists when you can simply receive a push notification on your device or scan a QR code to access your account.

 Enhanced security

Coupled with biometric authentication, your account is protected with greater security.

Reduced costs 

Organizations that encourage passwordless sign-ins are no longer burdened with the task of updating password policies, initiating password changes every month, and facilitating password reset processes. In fact, when Microsoft rolled out passwordless authentication for their employees, their overall hard and soft costs reduced by 87%.

Go passwordless with us

We at Zoho strive to provide our users with the best, and we are constantly on the lookout for innovative ways to make our products truly one-of-a-kind. In keeping with our innovative nature, we've launched a new version of OneAuth, an authentication app for Android and iOS, coming soon for Windows as well.

Check out our help guide to know more about the features of passwordless authentication with OneAuth.

Passwordless authentication is the future, and OneAuth is a step towards that.

On this year's World Password Day, celebrate your account security with Zoho's OneAuth, and comment below your thoughts on passwordless authentication.