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FIDO Alliance champions security and authentication experts
Wed, 13th Apr 2022
FYI, this story is more than a year old

FIDO Alliance has announced that testing is now available for individuals seeking to become FIDO Certified Professionals.

Experts in online security and authentication are invited to apply and demonstrate their ability to support businesses designing their authentication strategy and migration away from outdated techniques such as passwords.

FIDO is increasingly recognised by global enterprises, governments and consumers as the gold standard for phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication. For instance, it was recently cited as ‘best practice' in the United States Zero Trust Strategy, the company states.

This program meets the corresponding demand for trusted professionals with FIDO expertise to support the implementation of FIDO authentication into organisations' identity architectures.

FIDO Alliance executive director and CMO Andrew Shikiar comments, “Organisations of all sizes and across all industries are increasingly aware that passwords are no longer fit for purpose, but very few know what the other options are, and even fewer know how to get there."

He says, T"he FIDO Certified Professional Program stands to be a powerful tool in orchestrating the next phase of mass migration to more robust, modern authentication infrastructures.

"With more experts on the ground, we can keep empowering businesses all over the world to break their dependence on passwords - enabling greater security and enhanced user experience.

Aspiring FIDO Certified Professionals must be equipped with advanced technical knowledge to help organisations define a robust FIDO architecture that meets their business needs, the organisation states.

Individuals are assessed on their skills and knowledge in relation to the FIDO standards and architecture, as well as the identity and authentication space more broadly.

According to the organisation, achieving FIDO certification provides an array of benefits for professionals including:

  • Competitive advantage in a highly-skilled industry
  • Ability to execute projects with increased efficiency
  • Increased earning potential
  • Professional credibility and validation of expertise
  • Networking and business opportunities as part of the Alliance

Participants are assessed via an exam curated by industry peers and FIDO partner, Professional Testing. The program is recommended for professions including technology architects, systems and operations engineers, security professionals and identity and access management professionals.

Among the first group to receive their FIDO certification are professionals who aided in the development of the exam are the following: Eldan Haim, Apiiro; Shane Weeden, IBM; David Turner, FIDO Alliance; Susana Rodriguez, HYPR; Khedron de Len, HYPR; Baljeet Sandhu, HYPR; Pasha Benenson, HYPR; Manish Khedawat, Target; and Aleksey Kravtsov, Warby Parker.

The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, was formed in July 2012 to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication technologies, and attempt to remedy the problems users face with creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords.

The FIDO Alliance is changing the nature of authentication with standards for simpler authentication that define an open, scalable, interoperable set of mechanisms that reduce reliance on passwords. FIDO Authentication is a service to use when authenticating to online services.