Web Directions Year round learning for product, design and engineering professionals

Auth on the web: better authentication

New technology beyond is challenging the premise that we have to choose between more friction or more security for authenticating users. This talk will explore the benefits and drawbacks of frictionless authentication options beyond traditional one-time passcodes like biometrics, contextual data, or using devices as secure keys.

Voice recognition in call centers saves both the user and the agent time and frustration. IP address validation is a fast way to trigger additional checks. Device fingerprinting provides a seamless user experience for repeat visitors.

These kinds of frictionless background authentication checks have been deployed to increase trust and improve user experience but aren’t a perfect solution: algorithms have bias, IP addresses can be spoofed, and people lose devices.

This talk will walk through three categories of frictionless authentication: biometrics, contextual data, and using devices as keys. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of different solutions, including how to make your users feel secure when they don’t see the security happening. Finally, we’ll offer recommendations for adding frictionless authentication to your application.

Kelley Robinson

Kelley works on the Account Security team at Twilio, helping developers manage and secure customer identity in their software applications. Previously she worked in a variety of API platform and data engineering roles at startups. Her research focuses on authentication user experience and design trade-offs for different risk profiles and 2FA channels. She believes in the power of good documentation and is passionate about making security accessible to new audiences. Kelley lives in Brooklyn, is an avid home cook, and spends too much time on Twitter.

In 2022 we have a whole series of events for Front End Developers

Across 2022 Web Directions is presenting our series of online conferences for front end designers and developers. Focussed deep dives, they go far beyond what you might expect from conference programs.

Learn more and register now

Priced individually from $195, or attend all 6, plus get access to our conference presentation platform Conffab for just $595, or $59 a month.