Medium doesn’t think it needs passwords to offer secure authentication

Blogging platform Medium is opening up its login process, so you don’t need a Twitter account, Facebook account, or a password.

Starting today, users can now log into Medium with just an email address — no password required. Upon entering your email address, Medium will email you a link through which you can securely sign on. The new sign-on is available for web, iOS, and Android versions of Medium.

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“Passwords are neither secure nor simple. They’re hard to remember or easy to guess, everyone re-uses them (even though they know they shouldn’t), and they’re a pain to type on mobile. They don’t even keep you that safe,” the company wrote in a blog post.

It’s a really interesting solution to a problem that plagues the Web. With the growing number of hacks on major retailers and banks, many have acknowledged that passwords are no longer effective in securing accounts. To enhance security, companies including Facebook and Twitter have started offering two-factor authentication, a process by which users have to prove their identify twice before getting access to an account.

By getting rid of the password, Medium is seemingly taking an opposite approach. However, a password-free login could be just as secure. Medium users will be notified every time someone tries to log into their account, and the sign-in link will expire after a short amount of time; it also can only be used once.

If you prefer signing in through a third party, Medium will still support Facebook and Twitter logins. The company is also exploring other ways to facilitate its password-less login, so don’t be surprised if Medium eventually starts sending its secure login link via SMS in addition to email.