As part of a larger proposed effort to rethink the Internet's architecture (see "The Internet Is Broken"), Internet elders such as MIT's David D. Clark argue that authentication -- verification of the identity of a person or organization you are communicating with -- should be part of the basic architecture of a new Internet. Authentication technologies could, for example, make it possible to determine if an e-mail asking for account information was really from your bank, and not from a scam artist trying to steal your money.

Back in 1996, as the popularity of the World Wide Web was burgeoning, Tim Berners-Lee, the Web's inventor, was already thinking about authentication. In an article published in July of that year, Technology Review spoke with him about his creation. The talk was wide ranging; Berners-Lee described having to convince people to put information on the Web in its early years and expressed surprise at people's tolerance for typing code.