Universal Single Sign-On
A universal single sign-on seems to be an easy “heck no”. Who in their right mind would willingly give that kind of power to just one entity? Data breaches are a regular occurrence. Just last week, as I was lamenting the Terms of Service for playing Pokémon on my Switch, there was a new report that 300,00 Nintendo user accounts had been hacked, prompting me to change my passwords.
As our world becomes more digital, the future of secure, impenetrable user authentication may lie in blockchain technology. According to Medium.com, “the tech allows digital information to be distributed, but not copied. That means each individual piece of data can only have one owner.”
The decentralized nature of the blockchain makes it impossible to hack making it the perfect technology for user authentication. Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano.org, a blockchain and cryptocurrency think tank, gave an interview to TechRepublic.com and stated, “What you can do with blockchain is start having authentication where you don’t have to have a username or password but it’s much more secure and you don’t have to reuse a password across every website.”
Blockchain technology may be the decentralized answer to the user authentication problem. However, there is still a long way to go build public trust, including regulatory guidance and user verification standards. Per Forbes.com, “The combination of a trusted, tamper-proof distributed ledger along with verified credentials will enable people to have trusted, portable digital identities that they can use on any website, from their bank to their healthcare provider.”
Sources
Cardano—Home of the Ada cryptocurrency and technological platform. (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://www.cardano.org/
Council Post: 13 Evolving and Emerging Uses for Blockchain Technology. (n.d.). Forbes. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/06/10/13-evolving-and-emerging-uses-for-blockchain-technology/
Dughi, P. (2018, February 4). A simple explanation of how blockchain works. Medium. https://medium.com/the-mission/a-simple-explanation-on-how-blockchain-works-e52f75da6e9a
Gilbert, B. (2020, June 9). Nintendo now says that the accounts of 300,000 Switch users have been hacked. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/nintendo-switch-account-hack-update-2020-6
Greig, J. (2020, June 12). Blockchain expert discusses a world without usernames and passwords. TechRepublic. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/blockchain-expert-discusses-a-world-without-usernames-and-passwords/
Why Can’t Blockchain Be Hacked? (n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://www.bitrates.com/guides/blockchain/why-cannot-blockchain-be-hacked
