J-Fall 2023: A Passwordless Future! WebAuthn for Java Developers – Deepu K Sasidharan

Software technology has seen leaps and bounds, but we are still relying on passwords when it comes to authentication and security. Weak passwords remain one of the major causes of breaches and security incidents. WebAuthn, the Web Authentication standard, provides a robust framework for passwordless authentication on the web. By leveraging public key cryptography and a variety of authentication factors, including biometrics and hardware tokens, WebAuthn offers enhanced security while eliminating the vulnerabilities associated with traditional password-based systems. In this talk, we will dive into the core concepts of WebAuthn, its architecture, key components, and underlying cryptographic principles. We will explore how Java developers can leverage WebAuthn’s API to implement secure and user-friendly authentication mechanisms within their applications. We will also learn to use WebAuthn with Spring Security and external Identity providers. We will see practical examples and code snippets, demonstrating step-by-step integration of WebAuthn into Java-based web applications.