Medium is doing away with passwords - and its new method for logging in is shockingly simple

Companies are trying to stop using passwords because, in all honesty, they are just not secure. This has been exhibited time after time after time.

No one has figured out the best way to ditch the legacy password system. But Medium, a content publishing platform run by Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, is trying a new method that's a simple as it can get.

The company is now using email addresses instead of the usual screen name/password combination. It uses a process that's almost identical to what happens when someone loses their password. When a Medium user wants to log in, they enter their email address into Medium's site and then the site sends an email to the user. The user then clicks a link which automatically logs them in.

It seems like a shockingly easy way to log in, given all the new authentication methods bubbling to the surface.

Before, Medium users signed in via their social accounts. This new option makes it possible to use Medium without linking to things like Facebook or Twitter, and without the insecurity of password authentication.

The new log-in method is interesting specifically because it's so simple. The question is: Will it make Medium safer than other services from hacks?