HID Global Authentication Platform

Password-based authentication is increasingly viewed as insecure, expensive to maintain, and damaging to user experience, driving organizations toward passwordless approaches. Although digital identity has evolved, passwords have remained largely unchanged—and were never designed as a security mechanism in the first place. They originated in the 1960s with MIT’s Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) primarily to track time spent on shared mainframes and to separate users’ private files. Early on, a CTSS bug exposed the master password file, underscoring how fragile password security can be and motivating decades of interest in alternatives.

Today, credential-based attacks and account takeover fraud are rising, amplified by remote and hybrid work. Industry momentum is reinforced by the FIDO Alliance and standards like FIDO2 and WebAuthn, alongside public-sector pressure such as a U.S. government cybersecurity memorandum calling for Zero Trust strategies and phishing-resistant MFA across federal systems. The central challenge is adopting passwordless authentication that reduces friction without sacrificing security, while aligning with each organization’s compliance needs and technology stack.

HID Global’s Authentication Platform positions itself as a holistic, modular passwordless solution spanning workforce IAM and consumer CIAM use cases, combining authenticators (smart cards, security keys, hardware tokens, biometrics, mobile) with identity proofing, credential issuance, and risk management. Capabilities include Windows Hello integration, multiple authenticators per account for recovery, remote document verification with biometric matching, and risk analytics using device intelligence and behavioral biometrics. The platform supports broad standards and APIs and offers cloud certifications (ISO 27001/27018, SOC2 Type 2) supporting compliance regimes such as GDPR and PSD2. Noted gaps include limited PAM interoperability, missing compromised-credential evaluation, and constrained interoperability with some third-party fraud services.

• Passwords were created to track time spent on shared mainframe computers.
• MIT developed the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) in the 1960s for multiple users with separate consoles.
• A CTSS software bug exposed the system’s master password file, making passwords visible to anyone who logged in.
• Account takeover fraud and credential-based attacks have increased in recent years, worsened by remote and hybrid work.
• The FIDO Alliance has driven adoption through standards including FIDO2 and WebAuthn.
• A U.S. government cybersecurity memorandum emphasized Zero Trust and phishing-resistant MFA across federal systems.
• HID Global is a subsidiary of ASSA ABLOY Group AB.
• HID Global’s U.S. headquarters are located in Austin, Texas.
• HID’s cloud-based authentication solutions are certified to ISO 27001, ISO 27018, and SOC2 Type 2.
• The platform supports APIs and standards including REST, SOAP, WebAuthn, Webhooks, SCIM, OAuth, OIDC, RADIUS, and SAML.

• “Password authentication is not only insecure, it also leads to poor user experiences and is costly for organizations to maintain.”
• “In reality, passwords were not designed to provide security but were instead created to keep track of how much time was spend on shared mainframe computers.”
• “The system’s breach demonstrated the insecurity and inefficacy of passwords as a method of authentication.”
• “Essentially, passwordless authentication solutions should provide an easy and frictionless user experience, but not at the expense of security.”
• “It is therefore important for organizations to choose the right passwordless solution that meets their unique challenges and requirements around user experience, security, compliance, and technology stack.”
• “The volume and complexity of fraud is increasing, and businesses in almost every industry as well as government agencies are actively seeking passwordless solutions to mitigate these risks.”
• “Designed for both consumers and workforce use cases, the Authentication Platform delivers a good balance of strong identity assurance and seamless user experience.”
• “A key element of the solution is its ability to manage risk and prevent fraud throughout a user's digital journey.”
• “As businesses continue their digital transformation journey, managing privileged users has taken on a new and greater importance.”
• “Thus, enabling passwordless options to PAM systems would be beneficial.”