Upcoming Workshop on Web Cryptography Next Steps
20 May 2014 | Archive
Today the W3C announced a Workshop on Web Cryptography Next Steps, focused on authentication, hardware tokens, and next steps for cryptography on the Web. The workshop will be hosted by Microsoft on 10-11 September 2014, and will be sponsored by Google and Tyfone.
Many projects and companies are now requiring high security Web applications with improved authentication, and the W3C is positioned to enable technologies ranging from multi-factor authentication to smartcard-based authentication available to Web Applications. For an example of new relevant work, the Web Cryptography API will soon expose standardized cryptographic functionality to Web Applications across all major browsers. Possible topics include, but are not limited to the following:
- Multi-factor authentication and Web Applications
- The use of smartcards and other hardware tokens (dongles, SIM cards) with the Web Cryptography API
- Interactions of various identity systems with the Web Cryptography API and other APIs
- National eID schemes and Web applications
- Use-cases in high-value environments such as the financial industry and government
- Improving authentication using the Web Cryptography API
- Security analysis of APIs, including but not limited to the Web Cryptography API
- Issues around safe and secure private key storage
- Making APIs in this area developer-friendly
W3C membership is not required to participate. The event is open to all, but all participants are required to submit a position paper or statement of interest by 18 July 2014.
IndieUI: Events (for Mobile and More) Updated Working Draft Published
29 May 2014 | Archive
The IndieUI Working Group today published an updated Working Draft of IndieUI: Events 1.0 – Events for User Interface Independence. This draft includes new events and a refined technical model. IndieUI defines a way for different user interactions to be translated into simple events and communicated to Web applications. (For example, if a user wants to scroll down a page, they might use their finger on a touch screen, or click a scroll bar with a mouse, or use a scroll wheel, or say ‘scroll down’ with a voice command. With IndieUI, these are all sent to the Web app as simply: scroll down.) IndieUI will make it easier for Web applications to work in a wide range of contexts — different devices (such as mobile phones and tablets), different assistive technologies (AT), different user needs. With IndieUI, Web application developers will have a uniform way to design applications that work for multiple devices and contexts. Comments on this Draft are encouraged by 27 June 2014. Learn more from the IndieUI Overview and the Updated Working Draft: IndieUI Events e-mail; and read about the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
