Tech Report

Chances are you have 100 different login names and passwords to remember on a daily basis. We all have Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Youtube, and so many more accounts to keep straight. What if I told you that you could use one login to sign into sites, instead of having to remember each individual password and user name? Well there is such a thing out there, it is called OpenID. “OpenID is a decentralized authentication protocol that makes it easy for people to sign up and access web accounts.” (openid.net)

How does OpenID work?

Instead of using a username OpenID assigns you a URL. This URL serves as your username on any site that is registered with OpenID. Before obtaining this URL from an OpenID provider you have to fill out your account information within your OpenID profile. The form is like any other sign up form, basic questions include name, age, D.O.B, and location. If you have a preexisting account from Google, Facebook, AOL, Myspace, Flickr, and other registered sites then you can bypass this whole step as you already have an OpenID URL from your account. When logging onto a site registered by OpenID you have to look for the OpenID hyperlink or their icon/logo. Input your OpenID URL, and all you have to do is click on “verify this site.” Voila you are done. Your URL should look something like this : “e.g. http://alice.openid.provider.org/” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenID)

OpenID’s History

OpenID was developed in 2005 by Brad Fitzpatrick who created LiveJournal. The first practical use for OpenID was between LiveJournal and DeadJournal. Originally 9 million users of LiveJournal had the option to use their LiveJournal ID as their OpenID. OpenID was slow to catch on and in its first year it only registered around 500 sites. However 6 month later OpenID exploded with having over 2,500 registered sites. In 2007 Symantec, Sun Microsystems, and Microsoft offered support for OpenID. Other notable sites include: AOL, Google, Facebook, Myspace, and Flickr.

Why should I care about OpenID?

Well an easy answer is because all the big social networking sites are doing it. What would be another reason, to save time. We all pride ourselves on getting things done fast, or saving time for something else. With two clicks of a mouse button you can sign in and verify a lot quicker than you would be able to if you were filling out form after form.

Where can I create an account?

The website I choose to use is called www.myopenid.net and www.openid.net . It was the recommended site in several online tutorials I found through Youtube. Shawne Powers has a great quick tutorial here. (Youtube link)

What are the drawbacks of OpenID?

Phishing attacks are a big concern for OpenID users. A phishing attack is where a malicious third party asks to verify your OpenID account and upon verification is then given access to your information. Once the third party has access to your OpenID they can now have access to every website you use OpenID on. However with major backers like Symantec, Microsoft, and Facebook you have to wonder how long this will be an issue.
Another drawback is having to remember a long URL, sometimes it can be quicker to remember your generic log in name and password you use on a daily basis.

Conclusion

OpenID is still relatively young, and has limitless potential. The ability to log into thousands of sites is extremely helpful. Backers like Google, AOL, Symantec, and Microsoft shouldn’t make security issues a problem in the future. OpenID is the most popular form of universal log in, and we should all jump on board as soon as we can.