Inducement prize: Online security - Seamless personal authentication

Internet has come to play an integral part in the lives of many European citizens. A large majority of people believe and even accept that there is no alternative other than to provide personal information if they want to obtain products or services online. The reliance on digital technology and the transfer of personal data to enable the use of online services come with substantial security risks however, such as online fraud and identity theft. A significant part of data breaches involve weak authentication credentials.

Password protection has been the default method of authentication online to date. This simple mechanism has many advantages, but the use of usernames and passwords in practice is severely flawed in both security and usability. Other solutions, typically employed in conjunction with passwords in a multi-factor approach, usually improve the robustness of the authentication. However, the increased security of multi-factor authentication has come at the price - limited usability and pri

An information and communication technologies (ICT) solution that enables citizens to seamless authenticate themselves across a wide range of applications and devices. The solution should be easy to use, reliable, robust against cyber-attacks, privacy-friendly and compatible as well as affordable and open. It should be ready to benefit a wide range of the EU population, from healthy to impaired citizens of all ages.