Passwords are hard to manage. ID federations, which create asingle point of failure, generally rely on the master-passwords. So do themulti-factor authentications as one of the key factors. Password-free life is acriminals’ Utopia. Then, what else?
Hitoshi Kokumai, president of Mnemonic Security, Inc. isadvocating Expanded Password System that enables us to make use of unforgettableimages as well as conventional texts, which is meant to be both intuitive andsecure. It is also expected to leave a torturouslogin as history and achieve comfortable and relaxing identity authentication. Hereis a 30-second summary video “Password-freeLife – Utopia or Dystopia?”.
Some readers might perhaps wonder what about biometrics thathas long been viewed as a password-killer. Hitoshi’s answer is here in another 30-second video “Turn off biometrics where securitymatters”. The latest draft of NISTDigital Identity Guidelines now reads “Biometrics SHALL be used withanother authentication factor (something you have)” in [5.2.3 Use of Biometrics].It is unthinkable that biometrics, which has to reply on another factor,displaces the password.
Readers who are interested in the theoretical backgroundwould be invited to have a close look at Hitoshi’s 7-page article “IntuitivePasswords – Passwords succeeding passwords”
*Hitoshi Kokumai is the inventor of Expanded Password Systemthat enables people to make use of episodic image memories for intuitive andsecure identity authentication. He haskept raising the issue of wrong usage of biometrics with passwords and thefalse sense of security it brings since 15 years ago.
**Mnemonic Security Inc. was founded in 2001 by Hitoshi forpromoting Expanded Password System. “Mnemonic” and “Mneme” used in the company name andlogo imply that our identity must be protected with our own memory and volition. Following the pilot-scale operations inJapan, it is currently searching for the location to set up the globalheadquarters.
