NIST issues digital identity update allowing agencies to use synced passkeys

Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, in a new update to its digital identity guidelines, is clarifying a key discrepancy in federal policy that may have been preventing some agencies from adopting stronger forms of multifactor authentication.

In a supplement to the guidelines released Monday, NIST offers new guidance on incorporating “syncable authenticators” into both enterprise and public-facing use cases.

It’s the first supplement NIST has issued for the 2017 digital identity guidelines. The agency is already in the process of updating those guidelines. Comments on the latest draft were due in March, and NIST could release the final revision as soon as later this year.

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