The FIDO Alliance, an industry consortium launched in 2013, Tuesday introduced additions to the FIDO 1.0 specifications with new transport protocols for FIDO U2F — Bluetooth classic and low energy, and near field communication. With these new transport specifications, FIDO U2F is appropriate for mobile and wireless applications, and devices that do not have a USB port, according to a press release.

“Within months of publishing the first FIDO standards, the FIDO Alliance continues to see strong demand from the marketplace. Already enjoying robust adoption, FIDO U2F is ready for more implementers to join us in creating a stronger authentication environment,” Dustin Ingalls, president of the FIDO Alliance, said in a statement.

“The addition of NFC and Bluetooth support in FIDO U2F illustrates our commitment to ensure FIDO standards are flexible, extensible and future-proof by design," Brett McDowell, FIDO Alliance executive director, said in a statement. "With this strategy, FIDO standards will continue to see accelerated industry adoption as we move ever closer to our goal of ubiquitous FIDO authentication that is more secure, private and easy to use."

The U2F Bluetooth transport specification allows the creation of special-purpose, Bluetooth low energy U2F devices that require just the press of a button to authenticate to an online service, according to the announcement. In addition, phones and peripherals, which consume more power, can be programmed to act as U2F devices using either Bluetooth low energy or Bluetooth classic.

The U2F NFC transport specification allows the creation of portable U2F devices such as credit cards and key fobs that are simply tapped against the target device to authenticate to an online service. Alternately, a mobile phone with NFC capability can be programmed to act as an NFC U2F device. The user taps the mobile phone onto a target device to authenticate.