Say Goodbye to All Those Passwords - BusinessWeek

Say Goodbye to All Those Passwords - BusinessWeek: "The U.S. Commerce Dept. is spearheading a new online security system that experts say will eliminate the password maze and perhaps boost e-commerce. The plan calls for a single sign-in each time a computer or phone is turned on, using a device such as a digital token, a smartcard, or a fingerprint reader. Once logged in, users would have access to any website that has signed up for the program. 'You are your password in this system,' says John Clippinger, co-director of the Law Lab at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and an advocate of the plan. 'It will be far more efficient and you'll control it much more.' Activities now done offline because of security or privacy concerns—evaluating medical records or refinancing a mortgage—might migrate to the Web following adoption of the new rules, called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, or NSTIC."