MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 13, 2015) - The FIDO® (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance (https://www.fidoalliance.org/), an industry consortium launched in 2013 to revolutionize online security with open standards for simpler, stronger authentication, today introduced the FIDO Cooperation & Liaison Program, inviting associations worldwide to provide their requirements and perspectives to influence development of FIDO standards for universal strong authentication and to learn how their stakeholders can best apply the FIDO standards to their market's need for moving beyond password security.

The FIDO Cooperation & Liaison Program responds to a critical need for collaboration among global not-for-profit associations. These organizations serve a range of industry-specific or region-specific requirements for technology, especially online privacy and security. The first FIDO liaison partners include Biometrics Institute, Bluetooth SIG, Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), GlobalPlatform, International Biometrics & Identification Association (IBIA), National Cyber Security Alliance, OpenID Foundation, Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), SmartCard Alliance and W3C.

"We invite every opportunity to work closely with associations of stakeholders that share a common need for better online authentication and open industry standards," said Brett McDowell, FIDO Alliance executive director. "We welcome our liaison partners and congratulate them on their initiative in joining us in this shared mission as they serve their own members' need to innovate and establish new industry best practices for safe and easy access to online services from any device."

Taking note of its recent meteoric growth, the FIDO Alliance leadership recognizes that not every organization will join FIDO as a formal member, yet most organizations with market influence are already members of one or more trade associations that help them establish technology best practices for their market and/or region. The FIDO Alliance's mission is highly complementary to these industry associations and consortia. The FIDO Liaison Program presents partnership opportunities for associations to be represented among the FIDO stakeholders and to make meaningful contributions to the FIDO ecosystem through sharing of requirements, case studies, and lessons learned. Equally, and perhaps more important, this new program opens a channel for cooperation and communication between the 200+ FIDO Alliance member companies and government agencies to work with representatives from a growing number of vertical market and regional industry bodies to accelerate informed adoption of this new technology at a pace not otherwise possible. 

"We are excited to be among the first FIDO Cooperation & Liaison Program partners," said Isabelle Moeller, Chief Executive of the Biometrics Institute. "The purpose of the agreement is to ensure cooperation on relevant work items and plans, in particular in the areas of strong authentication standards and biometrics industry best practices."

"The International Biometrics & Identification Association (IBIA) is delighted to be among the first organizations to join the FIDO Cooperation & Liaison Program," says Tovah LaDier, IBIA's managing director. She notes that "IBIA embraces FIDO's mission to replace the use of vulnerable authentication methods and looks forward to collaborating with FIDO, its members, and liaison partners in developing consumer-based biometric performance benchmarks and best practices that will lay the foundation for an effective and sustainable online platform."

"We see a bright future for wireless two-factor authentication and are pleased to be working with the FIDO Alliance on their initiative to make simple, strong and standards-based security available to the wireless industry," said Errett Kroeter, vice president of marketing, Bluetooth SIG. "The strong security and near-universal availability of Bluetooth® make it a natural fit in bringing this ground-breaking capability to consumers worldwide."

"The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) looks forward to working with the FIDO Alliance, particularly in areas where web standards for authentication will enhance the Open Web Platform and benefit the entire online ecosystem," said Dr. Jeff Jaffe, W3C CEO.

"We are pleased to have been selected to participate in the FIDO Cooperation & Liaison Program," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "We see a great deal to be gained by aligning the smart card industry with FIDO on issues involving online authentication and security."

Gil Bernabeu, Technical Director of GlobalPlatform, comments: "GlobalPlatform is delighted to become a liaison partner of FIDO Alliance. The work of FIDO Alliance is enabling new consumer experiences through combining authentication and biometrics on connected devices. We look forward to working with the alliance and its other liaison partners to support the delivery of these new experiences while maintaining security and global interoperability."

"The National Cyber Security Alliance very much supports the FIDO Alliance's ongoing effort fostering the widespread adoption of stronger authentication. The results of the FIDO Alliance's initiatives will make the Internet safer and more secure for everyone. At NCSA, we look forward to our continued partnership with FIDO helping everyone know how they can implement better security at home and work." - Michael Kaiser, Executive Director, National Cyber Security Alliance.

"The OpenID Foundation is pleased to work with the FIDO Alliance on optimizing interoperability between the OpenID Connect standard and FIDO authentication options." - Don Thibeau, Executive Director, OpenID Foundation.

"ETA is delighted to partner with the FIDO Alliance to advance the deployment of enhanced authentication. As the trade association of the payments technology industry, ETA's 500 member companies provide the world's safest, most reliable payments services to merchants and consumers. Through our collaboration with the FIDO Alliance, we will jointly work to advance deployment of innovative new security technology to counter the growing threat of cybercrime." - Jason Oxman, CEO, Electronic Transactions Association.

The FIDO Alliance welcomes all not-for-profit industry associations interested in joining the FIDO Liaison Partner Program, and they may apply directly for consideration https://fidoalliance.org/fido-alliance-liaison-organizations/.

About The FIDO Alliance
The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, www.fidoalliance.org, was formed in July 2012 to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication technologies, and 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, stronger authentication that define an open, scalable, interoperable set of mechanisms that reduce reliance on passwords. FIDO authentication is stronger, private, and easier to use when authenticating to online services with FIDO Certified™ products and services.

The FIDO Alliance Board of Directors includes leading global organizations: Alibaba Holdings (NYSE: BABA); ARM Holdings plc (LSE: ARM) (NASDAQ: ARMH); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); CrucialTec (KOSDAQ: 114120); Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS); Egis; Google (NASDAQ: GOOG); IdentityX; Intel (NASDAQ: INTC); ING (NYSE: ING); Lenovo (NASDAQ: LNVGY); MasterCard (NYSE: MA); Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT); Nok Nok Labs, Inc.; NTT DOCOMO, INC. (NYSE: DCM); NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI); Oberthur Technologies OT; PayPal (NASDAQ: EBAY); Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM); RSA®; Samsung Electronics, Ltd (KSE: SECL); Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA); USAA; Visa Inc. (NYSE: V); Yubico.