Major FIDO Updates Launched to Accelerate Global Charge Past Passwords

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New FIDO UX Guidelines and Specification Enhancements Enable Consumers and Enterprises to Meet Growing Demand for Simpler, Stronger Authentication

The FIDO Alliance today announced its first user experience (UX) guidelines and new FIDO2 standards enhancements aimed at accelerating the world’s move beyond passwords. With over 4 billion devices, all major browsers and operating systems now supporting FIDO authentication, today’s releases make it even easier for service providers and enterprises to provide simple, phishing-resistant and privacy-enhancing sign-in experiences.

Today’s announcements come as the widespread support for FIDO Authentication has led to an increased demand from service providers and consumers alike – but they need an implementation path to follow that maximizes adoption and simplifies FIDO deployments. The FIDO UX guidelines provide that path, allowing service providers to help consumers understand, adopt and benefit from logging in with FIDO.

At the same time, the increase in remote work and subsequent increase in phishing attacks on their infrastructure is accelerating enterprises’ digital transformation plans and making strong authentication a priority. The FIDO2 enhancements announced today address enterprises’ unique authentication and device management needs for faster, more efficient FIDO deployments.

“Eliminating the reliance on passwords is now a major objective for everyone offering online services – both to provide a more seamless yet secure access to consumer services, as well as to address the growing threat from sophisticated attacks targeting distributed workforces and systems. Our first UX guidelines and FIDO2 enhancements give consumers and enterprises the tools, protection and roadmap to a simpler, more secure, passwordless future,” said Andrew Shikiar, executive director and CMO of the FIDO Alliance.



UX Guidelines to speed consumer adoption of FIDO authentication

Virtually every modern device and web browser now supports FIDO Authentication, allowing consumers to leverage the same technology they use to unlock their device (a fingerprint or face scan for example) to now sign-in to web services in a secure and private manner. A growing number of large service providers and financial institutions are providing this built-in functionality in order to give their customers the option to log in without the risk and hassle of passwords. These FIDO UX guidelines were created as a set of best practices to help service providers encourage their customers to log in with FIDO Authentication on desktop environments; other FIDO authentication use cases will be addressed through UX guidelines in the future.

The UX guidelines are available to view and download at www.fidoalliance.org/UX-guidelines.

The UX Guidelines were developed following many sessions of moderated and unmoderated consumer research conducted by third-party research firm Blink UX, in collaboration with UX and design experts from FIDO Alliance member companies including Bank of America, eBay, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intuit, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Microsoft, Trusona, Visa and Wells Fargo.

For more detail on this work and recommendations visit Andrew’s blog. FIDO Alliance also has updated the consumer resource site loginwithfido.com with added information on how and where to use FIDO Authentication.



Enhancements to FIDO standards to accelerate passwordless in the enterprise

The FIDO Alliance has announced enhancements to its FIDO2 specifications, which include several new features that will be helpful for passwordless enterprise deployments and other complex security applications. Both FIDO2 specifications were recently updated by their governing bodies – with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) approving WebAuthn Level 2 and FIDO doing the same for CTAP 2.1.

Key to these enhancements is enterprise attestation, which provides enterprise IT with improved management of FIDO authenticators used by employees. Enterprise attestation enables better binding of an authenticator to an account, assists with usage tracking and other management functions including credential and pin management, and biometric enrollment required in the enterprise.

Other updates include support for cross-origin iFrames and Apple attestation, as well as improvements to resident credentials. More details on these and other FIDO specification enhancements are available here.



About the FIDO Alliance

The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance was formed in July 2012 to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication technologies, and remedy the problems users face with creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords. By harnessing the collective expertise of hundreds of leading technology, consumer services and government organizations, the FIDO Alliance is enabling simpler and stronger online experiences and more secure online identities and devices. The FIDO Alliance creates and publishes specifications, executes rigorous certification programs and educates consumers in order to build confidence and trust in FIDO Certified products and services.

Gov’t agencies should help employees quit smoking - law group

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Law group ImagineLaw on Tuesday urged government agencies to provide smoking cessation tools as part of their health and wellness program for employees, especially in light of the ongoing novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Helping people quit smoking is not just the responsibility of the Department of Health (DOH). It is in the interest of government agencies to improve productivity and overall well-being of their employees,” said Atty. Anna Bueno, policy associate for ImagineLaw.

The law group said that this program can be done in line with the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 or Republic Act 9211 that mandates a national smoking cessation program.

“It is more urgent now, with the COVID-19 pandemic that also primarily attacks the lungs. Smokers and former smokers experience more severe COVID-19 symptoms compared to non-smokers,” Atty. Bueno also said.

She added that government agencies should provide their employees with scientific and medical knowledge and tools to help them quit smoking. “Counseling, nicotine-replacement therapy, and community support, among others, are just some of the doctor-recommended tools to help individuals quit nicotine addiction,” she remarked. “These should be made available to employees by the State employer in coordination with the DOH or their healthcare provider,” she urged.

ImagineLaw maintains that there is a need to go beyond establishing smoke-free government offices and premises. “Making sure that a smoking ban is implemented in government offices is a fundamental first step,” Atty. Bueno said. President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 26 in 2017 that established smoke-free environments that included government premises.

“Smokers who want to quit need support. Nicotine, a substance present in cigarettes, is highly-addictive,” the lawyer explained. “Six in every 10 smokers want to quit. But tobacco companies, through their aggressive marketing and introduction of more addicting alternatives, are deliberately making it difficult for smokers to quit,” Atty. Bueno said.

"Cessation support services are a way for the government to protect workers from the tactics of the tobacco industry to prevent smokers from quitting,” she urged. “Helping workers who value their health to quit smoking fosters a good health-seeking work culture,” she added.

The law group also said that the Civil Service Commission (CSC), in partnership with the DOH, can provide the mechanisms for the smoking cessation program in the civil service sector. In fact, a 2020 Joint Memorandum Circular between the CSC and DOH (JMC 2020-01) on occupational health and safety standards supports the establishment of such mechanisms in light of COVID-19.

ImagineLaw said that government agencies have the opportunity to serve as an example to the private sector. “As more workers return to work, thanks to our vaccination program, it is important that the government sets the new normal for a healthy and productive workplace,” Atty. Bueno concluded.


Call DOH Quitline at 1558 or 165 364. You may also text 0921 203 9534 (Smart/TNT/Sun) or 0977 627 7539 (Globe/TM).

ePLDT empowers disaster resiliency of enterprises in Visayas

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ePLDT, the ICT arm of PLDT Enterprise and the premier provider of end-to-end digital solutions in the Philippines, empowers the disaster resiliency and business continuity of businesses and organizations based in the Visayas region with the official inauguration of its first disaster recovery facility in Cebu.

ePLDT currently has two data centers in Cebu (VITRO Cebu 1, VITRO Cebu 2) that use the most up-to-date and globally competitive technologies to serve businesses requiring colocation, cloud hosting, disaster recovery, managed servers, security and network services. VITRO Cebu 1 has a capacity of 193 data center racks while VITRO Cebu 2—which is the biggest purpose-built commercial data center outside Luzon—offers 796 racks. VITRO Cebu 2 is also the first TIA-942 Rated 3 Facility certified data center in the VisMin region and has Nexcenter, PCIDSS, and ISO Certifications.

Housed in VITRO Cebu 2 in Mandaue City, the new disaster recovery facility will enable Cebu-based enterprises in developing their own Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and becoming compliant with global standards. The facility will serve as a data backup site or alternative office space which companies can use to recover and restore its IT systems or operations in the event of a failure or natural disaster.

Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT President & CEO and SVP & Head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups said “Cebu has always been a strategic area not just for the PLDT Group but also for the Philippine economy. That is why we believe that building a Disaster Recovery facility in the region will further boost its booming and diverse business atmosphere.”

Cebu is one of the top-of-mind disaster recovery locations for Metro Manila-based enterprises. The fast-growing economy of Visayas and Mindanao requires business continuity services to be in place to ensure the economy will remain strong and open regardless of the circumstance.

In his remarks, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said, “this pandemic is an opportune time for enterprises to work on their business continuity plans, as more and more businesses have embraced e-commerce. Mandaue is blessed to have PLDT Enterprise as our partner. Congratulations and thank you for making Mandaue your home. Together, let us move forward.”

The disaster recovery site is a crucial component of any company’s BCP and part of standards on operational risk management. Highly regulated industries such as banking & financial institutions are required to abide by a clear and complete BCP to keep its services running no matter the circumstance.

Mitch Locsin, PLDT FVP & Enterprise Revenue Group Head, noted that “this backup site assures operational continuity, with round the clock power and operational security and customer support, especially job functions that require critical employee presence in the work site in the event of calamities. PLDT Enterprise and ePLDT will always endeavor to provide digital solutions that will enable businesses in Visayas to become unbreakable. With the support of local government and the business sector associations, we can help industries emerge even stronger and more resilient in the new world business environment.”

Local business leaders remain optimistic and are determined to keep striving for industry and enterprise in the region to be bustling and profitable, despite the challenges the global pandemic has brought on the economy. The opening of the DR facility now allows the businesses that compose it to ultimately become disaster-proof.

“On behalf of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I congratulate ePLDT and PLDT Enterprise for this brilliant innovation to help propel the growth of Cebu’s economy by ensuring organizations have the confidence to resume their operations with a more comprehensive approach to our business continuity. May this new facility stand as a symbol of prosperity as we work together towards a safe and brighter Cebu," said Felix Taguiam, President of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Meanwhile, Steven Yu, President of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry said “Businesses should have the ability to quickly adapt to disruptions such as disasters to ensure the continuity of business operations, and we commend PLDT Enterprise and ePLDT for this trailblazing facility that will help Cebu-based companies. This initiative shows the vision, foresight and leadership of PLDT, making it always ahead of the game.”

The disaster recovery facility features a secure and resilient contingency workspace, with capacity for 100 seats. It is flood-proof at 20 meters above sea level, and is seismic zone 4 compliant. Redundant generator sets also ensure uninterrupted power supply. Moreover, the facility is designed to be carrier-neutral, allowing other telcos both foreign and local to provide network connections according to the customer’s preference.

ePLDT recently built an additional 86 racks in VITRO Cebu 2 to further support enterprises’ demand for a strong business continuity solution which provides IT infrastructure and workspace backups.



For more information, visit epldt.com 

PHOTO CAPTION: ePLDT officially inaugurates its first disaster recovery facility in Cebu with a ribbon-cutting ceremony

(L-R) PLDT Enterprise Corporate Relationship Management Business Heads Kent De la Calzada and Hazel Amoyan, and Corporate Relationship Management AVP & Head for Visayas Jimmy Chua.