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FAQ

Is FIDO U2F supported?​

Q: Is the FIDO U2F standard supported in Nevis Mobile Authentication?

A: No, Nevis Mobile Authentication is built around the FIDO UAF 1.1 standard.

What are the advantages of Nevis Mobile Authentication?​

Q: What are the advantages of Nevis Mobile Authentication for customers?

A: The advantages for your customers are...

  • Faster way for authentication
  • The biometrics will stay on the device
  • Reduces reliance on over-complicated passwords
  • A single gesture is enough to login
  • Works with same devices people use every day
  • Customers can use the same authentication method with different services
  • Protects against phishing, man-in-the-middle and replay attacks, no server-side shared secrets to steal
  • The services or accounts cannot be linked

Q: And what are the advantages for my company as a service provider?

A: The advantages for you as a service provider are...

  • Reduced risk of fraud
  • You do not need to store secrets on the FIDO server and are thus not as exposed to attackers as other systems.
  • In case of a server breach, no secrets may be stolen
  • Compliance with various regulations such as PSD2

Can I configure trusted authenticators?​

Q: I'd like to only allow a very specific set of authenticators. E.g., only the ones I'm providing myself. Can I freely configure the allowed authenticators?

A: Yes, this is possible. The nevisFIDO component of the Nevis Mobile Authentication solutions allows to define a custom meta-data service. Through the meta-data service, it's possible to define which authenticators you accept as trusted authenticators.

What if my mobile devices do not have built-in FIDO capabilities?​

Q: What if my mobile devices do not have a built-in FIDO UAF 1.1 client or FIDO UAF 1.1 authenticators?

A: Nevis Mobile Authentication aims to support mobile devices without built-in FIDO UAF 1.1 support. This will be done by providing a client SDK which allows to build in FIDO UAF 1.1 client capabilities including authenticators into an existing mobile application or into a dedicated access app.

What are the pros and cons of a built-in Nevis Mobile Authentication Client vs. an Access App?​

Q: Nevis Mobile Authentication supports built-in Nevis Mobile Authentication clients and dedicated access apps. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods?

A: The features of each deployment method are depicted in the table below:

Built-in integrationAccess app
No context switch✅❌
Number of applications to install12
Shared usage of one application for authentication by multiple business appsfeasible but confusing user experienceclear user experience
Requires separate registration on each device✅✅
In-band registration✅✅
In-band deregistration✅✅
In-band authentication✅❌
In-band transaction confirmation✅❌
Out-of-band transaction confirmation✅Push notification handling (if needed) must be implemented by the App✅

Can Nevis Mobile Authentication be configured with nevisAdmin?​

Q: Can Nevis Mobile Authentication be configured with nevisAdmin?

A: Support of Nevis Mobile Authentication is integrated into nevisAdmin4. However, there will be no Nevis Mobile Authentication support for nevisAdmin3.

Can I use nevisFIDO without the other Nevis components?​

Q: Nevis Mobile Authentication requires nevisProxy as well as nevisAuth as components of the solution. Why can I not just run nevisFIDO to do FIDO UAF authentication?

A: Nevis Mobile Authentication is designed as an end-to-end solution. nevisFIDO is just one component of that solution. By itself, nevisFIDO does not provide you with the functionality required to do FIDO UAF authentication.