SHANGHAI—Mobile Connect, the rapidly growing digital identity solution, has gained further momentum after it was demonstrated that it can provide secure authentication for Microsoft’s Azure Active Directory B2C.
The demonstration, which took place inside the GSMA Innovation City at Mobile World Congress Shanghai, gave people the opportunity to use Mobile Connect to securely log-in into the software giant’s Azure Active Directory B2C, enabling them to access various consumer and citizen-facing applications.
Users could easily click the Mobile Connect button when prompted to log-in. This triggered a ‘challenge’ to be sent through to the user’s mobile phone asking them to validate their identity via a simple yes or no. The prompt itself is uniquely delivered by the phone’s SIM applet, helping to ensure optimum security.
The proof of concept (PoC) is the product of a collaborative project in Spain between Microsoft and mobile network operators Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone. It underscores the market readiness of Mobile Connect by demonstrating how customers can use the identity solution to securely log-in to the Microsoft service, regardless of their mobile network operator. The next phase of the PoC will enable a user to securely reset their password and also include multi-factor authentication.
Microsoft’s Azure Active Directory is an identity and access management cloud solution that provides a robust set of capabilities that enables secure single sign-on for thousands of the world’s most popular cloud apps, and is used by millions of corporate customers around the world. Azure AD B2C brings the same scale and availability to help developers manage consumer and citizen identities.
The PoC gives Microsoft customers the opportunity to use Mobile Connect as an alternative to existing log-in solutions such as Facebook and Google+ that are already readily supported as identity providers in the service. Mobile Connect will make it easier for mobile subscribers by allowing people to securely log-in to the cloud based apps they use, using a device that is always with them – their mobile phone.
News of the PoC follows the announcement that Mobile Connect is available to over 2 billion users worldwide, greatly enhancing people’s ability to access digital services securely and conveniently. For more information on Mobile Connect, please visit www.gsma.com/mobileconnect. For more information about Azure Active Directory B2C, please visit aka.ms/aadb2c.