It's not just giant tech companies that want to put an end to passwords. Both the US' National Institute of Standards and Technology and the UK's Office of the Cabinet have become the first government bodies to join the FIDO Alliance, giving them a direct say in building more secure (and more universal) sign-in systems. Given how often governments depend on fingerprinting, smart cards and other physical identification methods, the move makes a lot of sense -- they want to encourage security measures that make it tougher for hackers to swipe sensitive data. It'll be a while before you see the influence of these new partners, but you may well be using government-grade ID to access your PC or phone in the future.

[Image credit: Shutterstock/Pedro Miguel Sousa]