For those who favor smiley faces and other emoticons over numbers and letters, a new way of logging into financial accounts is on the horizon. Intelligent Environments is rolling out Emoji Passcode, a system than enables customers to choose a four-emoji passcode to access accounts and possible make transactions.

The Identity Ecosystem Steering Group approved baseline requirements for the Identity Ecosystem Framework, a set of minimum conditions for Identity Ecosystem participants in four key areas: privacy, security and resiliency, interoperability and user experience

Recorded Future found login credentials connected to 47 United States government agencies freely available on the Web. While these passwords can’t necessarily be used to access government systems — with password reuse a rampant problem — it’s a troubling statistic that could lead to misuse of government systems.

LastPass users and the security community were shaken up last week following news that the online password manager experienced a data breach that exposed users’ encrypted master passwords. But at least one password-cracking expert says the LastPass breach is nothing for users to sweat about, especially if they picked a strong master password.

The Secure ID Coalition released a report “State Secure Identity Practices and Policies” ranking some states on where they fall with security identity practices. State processes have become a foundation of personal identity verification and that’s why it’s important to look at what the local jurisdictions are doing when it comes to identity.

Password management systems — software application or service that helps users keep track of all of their logins, usually by securing them under a single master password — are becoming popular options for individuals and enterprises to manage access to their online accounts.

Infineon Technologies announced a FIDO Certified single-chip USB token reference design supporting the FIDO Alliance Universal 2nd Factor authentication standard; Gemalto holds on to its number one position for the second consecutive year in ABI Research’s Payment & Banking Card Technologies competitive assessment; Olcsan CAD and EyeVerify announced a multi-year licensing and marketing agreement; Hotel security provider VingCard Elsafe has changed its name to ASSA ABLOY Hospitality.

The dark world of the web is exposed in a case study by CSID called Hacking the Hackers. The ID theft protection firm conducted an experiment this spring that shows why it’s bad practice to reuse passwords. CSID created a fake company, complete with employees who had social media accounts and credit cards, and exposed some of the company’s sensitive information online.

When Carolina Bank wanted to strengthen the security of remote log-ins for employees, the business chose SMS PASSCODE for a multi-factor authentication solution.

The University of Texas in Austin is launching the Master of Science in Identity Management and Security program next year. The program features nine courses with names like Identity Security and The Policy of Identity.