Two-Factor Authentication Key To Online Healthcare Services

A federal plan to involve the private sector in beefing up online identity management and user authentication, while also making it easier for individuals to manage passwords, should find plenty of applications in healthcare--which is exactly what the Obama administration envisions.

The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, a roadmap released earlier this month for protecting consumers from fraud and identity theft, calls for the voluntary building of an "identity ecosystem" in which consumers can have a single, user-specific credential to log into any participating website. This, according to federal officials, will allow security-conscious sectors, including healthcare and finance, to make new online services available.

"[I]ndividuals and businesses need to be able to check each other's identity for certain types of sensitive transactions, such as online banking or accessing electronic health records," the 52-page document reads. Among other things, the strategy calls for wider adoption of two-factor authentication and unique security credentials for each user.

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