26 May, 2014

ASP.NET Identity 2.0.0 – What’s there for Developers?

Microsoft released the final version of ASP.NET Identity 2.0.0 in March. It comes with a set of features to complement the most recent trends in web application development. In addition to enhanced security and account management features, the ASP.NET Identity 2.0.0 addresses the feedback received from the community of developers on earlier releases. Nowadays, users are not required to access applications through their username and passwords.

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They can simply use their social identities to access the web application without going through lengthy registration process. So developers use redirection-based log-ins to authenticate the identity of individual users through Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. Microsoft designed the ASP.NET framework based on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern to help developers in rapidly creating and testing robust internet applications.

Important Features of ASP.NET Identity 2.0.0 that Web Developers Must Use

Support for Two-Factor Authentication
ASP.NET Identity 2.0.0 provides an additional layer of security to your web application by supporting two-factor authentication. While registering for a website, users often choose weak passwords. So there are always chances that their passwords may get compromised. When a user’s password gets compromised, the features will send code through SMS or email. You also have option to write your own code providers by using QR code generators. The code can be further validated through the authenticator app or the authentication feature of the mobile devices.

Option to Lockout Users
ASP.NET Identity 2.0.0 further enhances the security of the website by locking out the users. If the user enters his passwords and two-factor authentication code incorrectly, he will be locked out. You have option to configure the features to set the number of invalid attempts and the lockout time span for the user. However, the feature can also be turned off if a particular website does not required additional and enhanced security.

Requires Account Confirmation
The most recent version of ASP.NET Identity system supports account confirmation. Thus, you can allow a user to access the internet application only after confirming his email. Nowadays, most websites require users to submit their email ids as part of the registration process. The users are further required to confirm the email id before completing the registration process. So the email confirmation will make it easier for you to prevent the creation of fake and bogus accounts. At the same time, the website can also use email as an effective mode of communication to interact with users.

Option to Generate Security Stamps
There are always chances that a user can change his password or any other information related to security. Also, a user has option to remove his Google, Facebook or Microsoft Account from the login credentials. Each time a user changes any security-related information, it becomes essential to invalidate the old password by generating cookies. ASP.NET Identity 2.0.0 makes it easier for you to generate a new token and invalidate the old token, each time a user changes his password. Additionally, you can compel the user to logout to make the website more secure. The user can be further logged out from all places where he is accessing the internet application from.

Optimized Password Validator
The password validator provided by earlier version of ASP.NET Identity was not comprehensive. The validator was effective in validating only the minimum length. But the updated version of ASP.NET Identity comes with an optimized password validator that enables you to control the complexity of passwords more tightly. The feature along with the two-factor authentication will make the security of your web application more comprehensive. At the same time, you also have option to add password policies according to the security needs of the website.

You have option to use ASP.NET Identity 2.0.0 in ASP.NET MVC, Web Forms, Web API and SPA. The framework can be used as project templates in the Visual Studio 2013. So it becomes easier to make your web application more secure without writing additional code.

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