White House Makes Case to ‘Lock Down Your Login’

The White House is helping to make the case for moving beyond the password with the National Cyber Security Alliance’s ‘Lock Down Your Login’ campaign.

It’s a public-private endeavor, part of the government-led ‘STOP. THINK. CONNECT.’ digital security campaign, and the federal government is eager to emphasize its endorsement of the effort. In a statement, the Office of the Press Secretary asserted, “Since the beginning of his Administration, the President has made it clear that cybersecurity is one of the most important challenges we face as a Nation,” and called his Cybersecurity National Action Plan a “critical component” of the government’s effort to push user beyond password-based security.

‘Lock Down Your Login’ is aimed at pushing that agenda forward. Discussing its message, the White House statement said that “[s]trong authentication, such as the use of a fingerprint or the confirmation of a one-time code, for your online accounts could have prevented as many as 62 percent of successful data breaches last year.”

It’s a prestigious endorsement and validation of not only the NCSA’s stance on password-based security and the need to move beyond it, but numerous other digital security experts and companies that have been advocating for more sophisticated security for some time. Many of those organizations have signed on for ‘Lock Down Your Login’, such as the FIDO Alliance and TeleSign, as well as some of the biggest brands in IT including Google, Facebook, and Intel.

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September 30, 2016 – by Alex Perala