microsoft authenticator application for windows 10

Passwordless sign-in for Microsoft accounts with the Microsoft Authenticator app is already available, and support for signing into Azure AD is now in public preview. Instead of using a password to sign in, users see the number code to enter into the Authenticator app, where they have to enter their PIN or provide a biometric.

The first steps rely on the Microsoft Authenticator app, which uses key-based authentication to create a user credential that’s tied to a device and uses a PIN or biometric (so it’s a software equivalent of Windows Hello). You can already set that up using Azure AD Conditional Access and MFA, but comprehensive support for a full set of passwordless options is only just starting to arrive.įIDO2 (Fast Identity Online) is the cross-platform way the industry is achieving this, but it’s taking time to get the standards worked out and delivered, and Windows and Azure AD support is also coming in stages. More factors can be added as the risk rises - whether that’s based on the value of the content, the behaviour of the user, their location and connection, or the state of the device. Certificates can be combined with contextual security policies that require fewer factors for low-value access on trusted devices and connections. Passwordless doesn’t mean more things for users to remember and more hoops for them to jump through. How to connect an Apple wireless keyboard to Windows 10Ī better solution is to move away from passwords altogether with biometrics, one-time codes, hardware tokens and other multi-factor authentication options that exchange tokens and certificates without users needing to remember anything. Microsoft offers Windows 11 for HoloLens 2 Windows 11 update brings Bing Chat into the taskbar Microsoft PowerToys 0.69.0: A breakdown of the new Registry Preview app If password reset systems rely on people, they can be fooled by social engineering too. That’s exacerbated by forcing regular password changes, and both NIST and the National Cyber Security Centre advice against regular password changes without evidence of breach. Users routinely pick passwords that are too simple and easy to guess, and if you force people to use complex passwords they store them and reuse them. Passwords aren’t working: over 80 percent of security breaches are down to stolen passwords and credentials.

Microsoft authenticator application for windows 10