For fifty years, usernames and passwords have been essential tools for establishing both consumer and enterprise identity, but as computers and networks have become faster — and as malicious actors have become far more sophisticated — passwords are simply just too easily hacked to be reliable in and of themselves.
The trend has been to reduce the number of authentication points by adopting a single-sign-on approach for both the consumer and the enterprise levels. More recently, the increasing use of biometrics (thumbprint, handprint, retinal patterns — even walking gaits) and the deployment of the FIDO2 standard are eliminating the need for passwords entirely by improving security and removing user authentication friction.
Beyond improving security, this also will make automated transactions far more seamless and hassle free — and you won't find yourself trying to remember that password you set five years ago.
