Passwords, passwords, and more passwords.
It’s tiring, offers poor security, and is now old hat. The future is passwordless authentication.
The Problem with Passwords
- Brute-forcing is effective: Brute-forcing passwords involves using software that repeatedly tries different passwords to find the right one. The more quickly you can try various combinations, the more effective this hacking technique becomes. With modern hardware being as powerful and inexpensive as it is, hackers can brute-force passwords in minutes, not days.
- Password fatigue: This term refers to the all-too-common situation in which employees have too many passwords to remember and get tired of trying to remember them all. Instead, they rely on post-it notes and computer files to store their passwords. This is an obvious security hazard. Anyone that gets their hands on the computer file or written note has not just one but a whole range of employee passwords.
- Password authentication offers a poor user experience: Needing to remember many passwords and type them in multiple times a day is frustrating and cumbersome.
There Has to be a Better Way!
And there is! It’s called Passwordless Authentication. It is the latest technology that has been built into most modern Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions.
No Passwords, Whether with MFA or Not
Multifactor Authentication (MFA) offers additional layers of security for authentication. Instead of just entering a password, IT users must enter a combination of passwords and other authentication factors.
3 Kinds of Authentication Factors
There are 3 kinds of authentication factors used with MFA:
- Something you know. An example of this is a password, a challenge-response question, or your date of birth, driver’s license number, or SSN.
- Something you have. Examples include a cell phone with an active SIM, a hardware token, or an access card.
- Something you ARE. Examples include fingerprint biometrics, facial recognition, and voice recognition.
Passwordless Authentication Leverages Biometrics
Of the 3 kinds of authentication factors (what you know, what you have, and who you are), the 3rd kind – who you are – is the most irreplicable. Your fingerprint is completely unique – nobody else has the same fingerprint. The same goes for your facial features and your unique voice.
What you know can be stolen. A hacker can find out what you know, and then he knows it too.
A hacker can steal what you have or hack into what you have, like a hard-token or mobile phone.
But a hacker simply cannot replicate your biometrics.
Biometric Authentication is Now Feasible for Daily Authentication
Biometric authentication technology has existed for a while, but it was very expensive. It was only used in scientific laboratories, by large government agencies like the CIA and NASA.
But technological progress has made biometric authentication possible for everyday use by individuals and organizations.
Phones and laptops come with fingerprint scanners. Webcams now deliver a high enough pixel count to accurately distinguish one person from another. Voice recognition software has advanced enough to do the same.
How to Adopt Passwordless Authentication for Your Business
Biometric authentication technology as a standalone is useless. It must integrate with your authentication software. Here’s where Cross Identity comes in.
Cross Identity is the world’s #1 Converged IAM technology and features advanced Passwordless Authentication. Once installed and integrated, the software enables your employees to log in from within or outside office networks using just biometric credentials.
The solution has the added benefit of being an all-in-one IAM platform offered in the Pay-Per-Use pricing model.
For the lowest entry cost, lowest total cost, and highest ROI of any product out there, you get Access Management, Identity Governance, and Identity Administration all in one product.
You pay only for what you consume: each Single Sign-on, Access Review, Passwordless Authentication, Birthright Provisioned, and so on.
Recognized by Leading Analysts
Cross Identity is featured in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, KuppingerCole’s Leadership Compass, and Frost & Sullivan’s FROST RADAR, among others.
It won the “Converged IAM Solution of the Year” at the RSA Conference in 2021.
Conclusion
It is important to future-proof your business by adopting Passwordless Authentication. This technology improves security, increases organizational agility, and enhances user experience.
Cross Identity offers Passwordless Authentication and all other IAM technologies in one platform. It is easy and inexpensive to implement, and you pay only for what you consume.
You would be hard-pressed to find such an innovative and analyst-recognized product at such a low cost anywhere else.
To learn more about Cross Identity, Download the Brochure.
Or visit us at www.crossidentity.com
