Juniper Research predicts that biometric authentication and NFC will take off in 2015, thanks in a large part to Apple’s Touch ID and Apple Pay.

The Winter 2014 issue of Regarding ID magazine looks at the rise of mobile identity; possible revisions to the four levels of assurance; how the airport of the future will identify travelers; a look at PIV-I and CIV; new certification for physical access control and the latest NSTIC pilot winners.

Consumers wants access to data anywhere at anytime. And while this is somewhat possible at this point it’s not always that easy or secure. The Internet or Things and wearable technologies are going to start making identity easy and secure for all.

Gemalto launched Sealys Secure Surface a new family of cost-effective security features for polycarbonate identity documents; Sticky Password announced the latest version of its password management software; SecuGen announced the release of the Hamster Pro Duo/CL, a product that combines a contactless smart card reader with an optical fingerprint reader; Precise Biometrics launched three new Tactivo smart card readers for iPhone 6, iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2.

The threat of password reuse is growing, despite warnings, with consumers rampantly reusing them across multiple accounts. The habit exposes individuals to identity theft and corporate networks to attack.

The FIDO Alliance released its implementation specification for deployment of secure authentication.The final 1.0 drafts of its two specifications – Universal Authentication Framework and Universal 2nd Factor — will enable members to create products and systems that enable strong authentication across a range of products.

More devices are becoming Internet enabled and this poses both challenges and risks. The data these devices produce needs to be secured but this same data could also be used as attributes for authentication to computers and networks.