It seems to happen every couple of months: a high-profile web company fails to set up proper security standards and ends up compromising millions of its users’ passwords as a result. Almost just as common are hackers who use unsavory methods to steal thousands of passwords and compromise identities. Just last week, a keylogging conspiracy led to the theft of 2 million individual passwords internet-wide. Clearly, if there is a weakness in the web security world – or really, in the internet universe at all – it’s the password and how easily it can fall into the wrong hands.

According to a recent article published by PCWorld, Microsoft actually agrees with that statement. The Washington-based software giant has reportedly joined up with a group called the FIDO Alliance, which is hoping to revamp web security standards and phase passwords out for good. FIDO – an acronym that stands for Fast Identity Online – has been working since July of last year to develop new “security devices and browser plugins.” If the alliance can get internet companies to adopt their new standards, they could lead a revolution in the implementation of internet security.

On the FIDO Alliance Website, the organization lists its mission statement as trying “to change the nature of online authentication” by reducing the internet’s reliance on passwords, building new security specifications and mechanisms, and getting industrial players worldwide to adopt the new specs.

More specifically, FIDO wants to develop a new software client which would be installed on computers everywhere and which would use “public key cryptography” as a more secure means of separating honest internet users from impostors. Of course, focusing solely on computers is no longer enough in the cyber-securty world: the FIDO Alliance has also expressed plans to bring its authentication standards to phones and tablet devices based in Android, Apple, and Windows operating systems.

While the FIDO Alliance certainly has ambition and good ideas in spades, there are a number of notable challenges standing in its way. First of all, while passwords may be a flawed internet security model, they will still be difficult to subvert due to their simplicity and accessibility. With passwords, users can access their information from any device with an internet connection, and while that opens them up to vulnerability, it is also a convenience that many people may not be ready to surrender.

Furthermore, FIDO will need organizations around the world and across the board to adopt its specifications if it hopes to make a true dent in the cyber security realm. Luckily, the alliance already has a few high-profile names on its side. In addition to Microsoft, the FIDO Alliance boasts the allegiance of Google, LG, Lenovo, and Mastercard, to name a few.