OpenID Connect

OpenID Foundation has released a new version, 3.0, called OpenID Connect. For more information about what OpenID Connect is, check the link here: http://openid.net/connect/

As an attempt to describe what it is, OpenID Connect provides a way to use a single identity to sign on to a service.  For example, if you have a Google account, you already have an OpenID. You can use this ID to log into sites and services that support OpenID, like some sites created with popular Content Management Systems. You can find a better explanation here: http://openid.net/connect/faq/.

This decentralization of logins can be a great thing. Let us say you have users on a certain site and the site gets hacked. If the site uses OpenID, username and passwords are not exposed (but the OpenID itself may be exposed but may be entirely useless). This site used OpenID for years (as a matter of fact, it’s how this post was created) and hopefully this new version may have greater industry support since it is now much easier to implement.