British business standards company BSI is developing a standard for enhanced identity and authentication online.PAS 499 will be a new standard for enhanced identity and authentication online, says the body. The standard is particulrarly relevant given that identity and authentication underpin all online transactions, and given recent legislative developments, ranging from the Electronic Identity, Authentication and Signatures Regulation (eIDAS) to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and financial services specific Payment Services Directive 2.Industry body the MIDAS Alliance has noted that it was formed to work with BSI on developing a standardized approach across industry.Andrew Churchill of the MIDAS alliance has commented: "Cybercrime and fraud are the fastest growing areas of criminal activity, and vulnerabilities in identity and authentication practices account for much of this unwelcome growth. Adoption of enhanced identity and authentication techniques are essential to make secure the ever increasing number of online transactions and services that a successful digital economy needs. However if industry sectors adopt different approaches to achieve this, the resulting fragmentation will cause considerable discontent among businesses, the public sector and consumers"Keiran Millard of BSI's Standard Solutions team says "PAS 499 is an excellent example of an industry sector using standards to deliver business benefit. MIDAS has brought together the key sector players and combining this with BSI's robust and transparent standards development process means an approach agreed by all can be realized to address this important topic."
British Standards Institution developing online identity standards
