UK Becomes the First Government to Offer Secure Online Identities Based on FIDO U2F Standards

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN and AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS--(Marketwired - Mar 23, 2016) - Yubico, the leading provider of simple, open and strong authentication, and Digidentity, a leading identity service provider, today announced a partnership to enable FIDO Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) authentication and YubiKeys for UK government services. The joint solution allows all UK citizens to easily and securely access GOV.UK Verify digital public services.

Compromised online identities have reached a level that has exposed the weaknesses in usernames and passwords as well as traditional software security solutions. Government services around the world have a growing demand for strong two-factor authentication, but traditional hardware technologies have been too costly and complicated to scale for most countries and internet users.

The new open authentication standard FIDO U2F changes that model. Successfully deployed and supported by leading commercial service providers, including Gmail and Dropbox, FIDO U2F is now also supported in UK government services, including for identity assurance.

GOV.UK Verify is a new simple way for UK citizens to access an increasing range of UK government services online. This is the first government service in the world to make support for simple and strong FIDO U2F authenticators. The service works using a roster of identity providers, who check and confirm a user's identity before they can access a government service. Digidentity is one of the UK government's certified identity service providers.

"UK citizens can easily purchase a FIDO U2F device online and register it with Digidentity," says Marcel Wendt, Digidentity CTO and co-founder. "With a quick online process, the user's identity is verified and tied to the U2F device, and the data is encrypted to safeguard a user's privacy. We are pleased to partner with Yubico, a driving contributor of the FIDO U2F standard, to make this happen."

To authenticate to GOV.UK Verify using Digidentity with FIDO U2F, the user inserts a U2F YubiKey device into their computer's USB port, and then touches the device. There are no drivers or client software to install. Later this year, U2F authentication via Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth will be supported by Digidentity for secure login from mobile devices.

"We are impressed with the online identity services that GOV.UK and Digidentity have developed and are now offering to UK citizens," says Stina Ehrensvard, CEO and founder, Yubico. "We share their mission of making secure online identities easy and available for everyone."

YubiKeys with FIDO U2F support are available (starting from £13/$18) at Amazon.com or from the Yubico Store. The same U2F key that works with GOV.UK Verify and Digidentity also works for logging in to a growing number of large scale commercial services, without any personal data or encryption secrets shared between service providers. 

About Yubico
Yubico sets new world standards for simple, secure login, preventing unauthorized access to computers, servers, and internet accounts.

Supporting multiple authentication and encryption protocols on all devices and platforms, YubiKeys protect access to user accounts for the world's largest enterprises with a simple touch, and with no driver or client software needed. Yubico is a leading contributor to the FIDO Universal 2nd Factor open authentication standard, and Yubico's technology is used, and loved, in more than 150 countries.

Founded in 2007, Yubico is privately held with offices in Sweden, US and UK. For more information, please visit www.yubico.com.

About Digidentity
Digidentity makes your online life simpler and safer by enabling secure and verified digital identities for everyone.

To do this, Digidentity developed services focused on a unique digital identity, where the user and their privacy are key. Digidentity is also a supplier of SSL certificates and qualified digital signatures. Digidentity provides national digital identity solutions to the Dutch and British governments, as well as solutions for a large variety of organizations. Providing identities to more than 12 million Europeans, Digidentity executes more than 150 million secure online transactions per year between people, organizations, and governments.

Founded in 2008, Digidentity is privately held in The Netherlands. For more information, please visit www.digidentity.com.