Initiative protests passwords and demands better ways to log in

A trio of former Pomona College students are declaring war on the password, and they’re enlisting consumers to put pressure on technology companies to adopt a more secure log-in process.

Brennen Byrne, Mark Hudnall and Jesse Pollak through their start-up Clef launched Petition Against Passwords. Though it’s already being viewed as a toothless publicity stunt, industry experts said the initiative should help consumers start to come to grips with a future in which the password isn’t at the foundation of logging into websites. Passwords can easily be cracked and they’re being stolen by hackers daily through email phishing attacks, computer viruses and snooping over shoulders.