Chung Jae-heon, CEO of SK Telecom. Photo courtesy of SK Telecom
SK Telecom (017670.KS) said Wednesday that its next-generation authentication solution “SK Telecom Passkey” has obtained Grade 1, the highest level of the Good Software (GS) certification, from the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA).
GS certification is a nationally recognized accreditation system that rigorously evaluates the functional suitability, security and reliability of software based on ISO/IEC international standards. Passkey replaces password-based access with unlocking methods such as fingerprint and facial biometric recognition, PIN or pattern input.
Passkey operates based on public-key cryptography principles. When a user first registers for a service, a pair of private and public keys is generated within the device. The private key is stored only in the secure area of the user’s device and is not transmitted externally. When the server subsequently requests identity verification during login, authentication is completed by signing the response with the private key stored on the device. Since only signature values are transmitted instead of passwords, no key-related information remains on the network.
SK Telecom plans to take the lead in building a “password-free work environment” by gradually applying Passkey to its internal systems. The company intends to further verify the technology’s stability in-house before expanding it to external services.