Blog: FIDO APAC Summit 2023: Pioneering Simpler and Stronger Authentication in Asia-Pacific

December 15, 2023

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From August 28th to 30th, 2023, the FIDO Alliance convened industry leaders, government representatives, and cybersecurity experts from the Asia-Pacific region at the FIDO APAC Summit 2023. The summit, hosted by Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication in collaboration with the Vietnam Authority of Information Security and VinCSS, a subsidiary of VinGroup, took place in Nha Trang, Vietnam. The summit, which took place in Vietnam to mirror the nation’s dynamic developments, aimed to foster discussions and strategies around the advancement of phishing-resistant FIDO (Fast Identity Online) authentication.

[Pictures from Hallway: August 29th]

Drawing over 300 attendees from 12 distinct nations, including Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, India, the UK, the USA, and Australia, the FIDO APAC Summit 2023 fostered rich discussions and collaborations. With a lineup of 29 speakers from diverse sectors such as government agencies, corporate enterprises, e-commerce platforms, solution vendors, service providers, and manufacturing firms, the event facilitated the sharing of expertise and insights over the fruitful days of the conference.

[Pictures from the Main Sessions: August 29th]

During the event, attendees had the opportunity to delve deep into more than 30 developer workshops and deployment/implementation case studies, each one offering a window into the rapidly expanding adoption of phishing-resistant FIDO Authentication across the APAC region and beyond. These sessions revealed several critical insights, highlighting current trends and forecasting the promising future of this essential technological progression. Here are some notable observations:

Google: From 2019 to 2022, the APWG (Anti-Phishing Working Group) Phishing Activity Trends Report indicated that the number of phishing attacks increased by more than 150% per year. Attacks targeting the financial sector accounted for 27.7% of all phishing attacks. (Download Slide Deck)

Yubico: Yubico’s State of Global Enterprise Authentication Survey 2022 revealed that 59% of employees continue to use a username and password as their primary authentication method for account access. Furthermore, 54% of respondents confessed to writing down or sharing their passwords. (Download Slide Deck)

Lenovo: Since 2016, over 90 local banks in China, accommodating 700 million-plus users, have adopted FIDO Authentication. The implementation of FIDO has spread from the banking sector to other industries, including manufacturing and smart city initiatives. (Download Slide Deck)

GovTech: The session highlighted the importance of FIDO Authentication, a phishing-resistant and globally recognized industry standard, in countering SMS phishing scams. These scams not only lead to financial and reputational damage but also impede national digitization efforts aimed at fostering growth. (Download Slide Deck)

Mastercard: There was a consensus on the necessity for merchants to have more options to enhance user experience and security, helping to avoid the frictions that lead to issues like a 65% rate of card abandonment during the checkout process. (Download Slide Deck)

NTT Docomo: In the COVID era, particularly from 2020 to 2023, NTT Docomo succeeded in reducing attacks on “d Account” by 99% by introducing a range of authentication options, including FIDO, thereby harmonizing user experience and security. (Download Slide Deck)

Samsung Electronics: Over 30 nations have already adopted mobile eID for identification and authentication processes. Its applications are widening to include functions such as bank loan applications, digital travel credentials, and hotel check-ins. Efforts to merge the mobile eID standard with the biometric authentication standard are underway. (Download Slide Deck)

Mercari: After implementing FIDO/Passkeys, the Japanese marketplace app noted a 14.9% increase in successful authentication processes, a marked improvement over the 67.6% achieved through SMS-based authentication. Additionally, the authentication speed has been reduced to 4.4 seconds, compared to the 24 seconds required with SMS-based authentication. (Download Slide Deck)

Hieu Minh Ngo: A former hacker and identity thief who served 13 years in US federal prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of individuals’ personal information, shared various phishing attack techniques. He demonstrated that phishing-resistant, passwordless authentication could effectively thwart such attacks. (Download Slide Deck)

[Mr. Trần Đăng Khoa, Acting Director General of the Authority of Information Security]

A significant milestone achieved during the summit was the induction of Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), through its Authority of Information Security, as the 10th government-level member of the FIDO Alliance. This summit also facilitated a well-rounded media coverage, both pre- and post-event, featured in numerous esteemed publications. Some highlights include:

[Pictures from the Main Sessions: August 30th]

FIDO Alliance extends our deepest gratitude to our sponsors and media partners, whose dedication to a password-free world was instrumental in orchestrating this first-ever FIDO APAC summit. Their sustained efforts were the linchpin for the event’s success. Looking forward, we anticipate the collaborations and knowledge fostered during this summit to pave the way for a more secure digital future in the APAC region. Thanks also to all of the participants for attending and engaging during the event.
Editor’s Note: This is the final blog post covering the FIDO APAC Summit 2023. We invite you to visit the landing page and read the ‘Opening of Registration‘ and ‘Speaker & Sponsor Line-Up Announcement‘ messages to gain a deeper understanding of the background and details.