Passwords have been used to log in to computer systems for the last 40 years, despite millions of leaked passwords caused by hackers attacking popular websites like LinkedIn, showing that using them is not really secure.
Dozens of companies tried to combat this problem with two-factor authentication. However, their solutions are still based on passwords and require an additional time-sensitive password to complete the login process. This makes it difficult and tedious. People want everything to be fast and simple. A solution which will be adopted by the masses has to be easier and more secure than the password login process.
Rublon is an entirely new approach to user authentication. Instead of passwords, it uses cryptographic keys which are distributed on the users’ mobile phones. Thanks to this decentralized architecture there is no central data point containing all the keys required for authentication. This makes the login process more secure and simpler at the same time. You just open the website you want to log in to on another device, then open the Rublon app on your mobile phone. A Rublon Code will show up on the device. Just scan it with the Rublon app and you will be logged in.
Passwords are old. It’s time for something better which makes use of modern technology.
1. Users don’t like passwords
Just take a look at what’s going on at Twitter. Every minute someone is complaining about passwords. They keep getting forgotten, hacked or guessed by hackers because people use simple ones since they’re easier to remember. Passwords are a pain which every Internet user has to deal with continuously. Your users would really appreciate it if you would offer them a way of logging in to your website which doesn’t require passwords.
2. Rublon is the easiest way to log in
The Rublon app on your mobile phone is like your key to the Internet. You’re opening the door of a website by pointing your mobile phone to your computer screen. It doesn’t get easier than that.
3. Passwords are not secure
Theoretically, passwords could be seen as secure, if people were using different passwords for every online account they have and if those passwords were very long and complicated (with special characters, upper/lower case letters and numbers). But that’s not how this world works. Most of the time, people use the same password for every website and very often it’s just a simple phrase. This is why it’s so easy to hack their accounts: you just need to use a software that will try to log in to people’s accounts automatically, using a dictionary of popular pass phrases. Attackers are using this method to get access to millions of online accounts without even having to break into the corresponding websites. With Rublon this is not possible since there is no centralized data point anymore. All the keys needed for authentication are saved only on the users’ mobile phones.
Another problem is that once someone knows your password, they can log in to your account at any time and you’ll probably never know about it. It would be good if your login would be determined not only by what you know, but also by what you have. With Rublon, someone would have to steal your mobile phone and gain access to it by guessing your PIN (you should always protect your mobile phone this way).
Passwords also encourage phishing:
Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire information (and sometimes, indirectly, money) such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. — Wikipedia
Basically attackers are setting up websites that look just like the original ones, but they belong to the attackers. When users try to log in to such a website by submitting their username and password, they are basically handing over their login credentials to someone who will probably use this data against them. With Rublon this is not possible since the architecture of the system is totally different, there are no passwords, so they can’t be stolen.
4. Get rid of hacking attacks
Every website that authenticates its users on the basis of passwords is a delicious target for every attacker. Once someone gets access to the user database of such a website, the usernames/email addresses and passwords that it contains can be used to access other valuable online accounts of those users: for example their email or Facebook accounts. That’s because people often use the same password everywhere.
If you were to use Rublon on your website, there would be no passwords for your users logging in with Rublon. Your website wouldn’t be such an interesting target for attackers anymore, which would save you lots of resources which you would otherwise have to spend on additional security. Furthermore your website wouldn’t join the ranks of sites like LinkedIn, eHarmony or Formspring, which have become victims of attacks resulting in huge data leaks with millions of stolen passwords. The press closely followed these events which ceirtanly didn’t improve their public image.
5. Rublon is the most secure convenient login system
Today, everybody’s talking about two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication basically means that you are authenticating yourself to a service on the basis of something that you know (like a password) and something that you have (like a hardware token or mobile phone). The problem with two-factor authentication in the current forms (there are dozens of solutions available on the market) is that it’s very hard to use. After logging in to a website with a username and password, the user has to enter another password from a hardware token or from a text message which was sent to their mobile phone. Some banks are requiring their users to log in this way and that’s OK because usually you’re not using online banking every day. But with day-to-day Internet surfing those solutions will never become standard because people want everything to be fast, they want it now, so they usually accept lower security by just logging in with simple passwords.
Rublon is actually like two-factor authentication, but in an entirely new way. In its most basic form, it is something that you have (your Rublon app on your mobile phone). But then, you usually also protect your mobile phone with a PIN code, so that’s something that you know, which results in two factors that need to be given in order to log in with Rublon. Soon we will also add an optional, intelligent PIN protection to the Rublon app itself which will ask you for your Rublon PIN in unusual situations.
Pull up the Rublon code on a website, (optionally enter your PIN), scan the code with your Rublon app and you’re logged in.
6. Rublon helps to fight spam
If you’re running a community like an online forum, you’re probably aware of the huge problem, namely spam. Automatically set up user accounts that create threads with ads and links to malicious websites. Rublon helps to fight this. Think about it. In order to log in to your website with Rublon, you have to have a Rublon account, which can only be created on your mobile phone. A spammer would have to simulate the Rublon app using his own software, which is going to be hard. Let’s assume that someone will take the time and actually do this. In that case we will introduce new protection mechanisms which will make this sort of behavior too expensive for the spammers to emulate. Therefore in essence, a website that only allows its users to login through Rublon will be spam free.
7. With Rublon, the future is now
Summing up, everything leads to a solution which will replace today’s login mechanisms. Internet power users are suggesting that everyone should start to use two-factor authentication wherever possible, but people just won’t do it because it’s too difficult to use and often costly for websites.
In a few years, a new standard will emerge that will replace the current way of logging in to websites because it will be easier to use and much more secure. Rublon is a solution that meets all these criteria. Users love it. Don’t wait, add Rublon to your website today and let your users use the patent-pending login method of the future.
Interested? Contact us at support@rublon.com. We are currently offering free Rublon integrations with free support. Get in touch right now!
