SK Telecom said on Thursday it has been appointed as a board-level member of the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance, which sets global authentication and security standards. It said it will begin full-scale activities starting with a general assembly held in Paris on Feb. 4 local time.

The FIDO Alliance is a group that jointly researches and develops passwordless access technologies using biometric authentication such as fingerprint and facial recognition. Global big tech companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft are members.

FIDO Alliance technology can reduce risks such as phishing and account takeovers because it does not store passwords on servers. SKT plans to join standards discussions with major global companies through its board activities and to gradually apply biometric authentication to internal systems.

Andrew Shikiar (앤드류 시키어), executive director and chief executive officer of the FIDO Alliance, said, "We welcome SKT's joining the FIDO Alliance board." He added, "We hope SKT's expertise will help advance global standards in the authentication and security area."

Lee Jong-hyun (이종현), head of SKT’s Integrated Security Center and chief information security officer, said, "With our participation on the FIDO Alliance board as a momentum, we will lead global standards and build a safer and more reliable authentication security environment."