Enterprises and SMB’s rely on the business benefits conveyed by IAM – Identity and Access Management in order to remain secure. Emerging from the need for cost-saving, management control, operational efficiency, and business growth, securing access to information and applications is key to any business. The bigger the company, the higher the number of identities to manage, both internally and externally. Therefore, IAM systems in corporate governance and compliance must keep a high focus on security. Read more to see the importance of MFA with typing biometrics as part of IAM frameworks.
With fraud and highly sophisticated attacks on the rise, the ever-changing security landscape is a continuous battlefield for any advanced IAM framework. The struggle to keep up with the latest regulations, updates, and new information on 0-day attacks, makes the IAM one of the most challenging areas in any company.
IAM: guardian of corporate security?
A big part of the Identity and Access Management system is authentication. Employees and customers digital assets must be kept safe taking into account a very distinct role of IAM: the guardian of corporate security. On this battlefield, the human factor is the most important.
Employees and customers must be educated to keep safety in mind while completing their everyday tasks.
Although more and more companies face the threat of industrial espionage, employees seem to forget that the number one vector of the recent attacks has been human mistakes and poorly implemented security procedures. Any company email can be an open door to attackers from across the world. Any misused server access can damage the company’s market reputation and in some cases, even ruin the firm.
These obstacles are faced by IT departments every day. To overcome them, the security measures must be:
- Easy to set up and implement
- Scalable and customizable
- Compliant with regulations
- Easy to maintain
Ideally, for easy approval of costs and to complement the above benefits, security measures should also:
- Require no additional hardware
- Be cost-effective
The solutions require to be designed with the customers or employee’s behavior in mind:
- Seamless user enrollment
- Easy to be adopted by the users
- Frictionless experience for involved users
- Ease of use
MFA with typing biometrics as part of a savvy IAM framework
Security protocols such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology – NIST also include recommendations to secure user accounts with Multi-Factor Authentication – MFA.
Largely utilized in the past years, 2FA(two-factor authentication) or MFA has proven to be the most efficient technique to defend against account takeover.
Successfully used in banks and many other institutions, it has been commercially adoption by giants such as Google and Amazon and has contributed to a better understanding of this secure authentication measure.
MFA brings an abundance of benefits. When combining typing biometrics with other authentication factors such as email OTP or SMS OTP, the result is a robust and stealth account protection that can be implemented on many levels and can further be part of a Risk-Based Authentication – RBA system. Unlike fingerprint or iris scans, typing biometrics has proven to be difficult to reproduce.
The authentication flow should be customizable based on the company’s needs. A successful MFA implementation: :
- Guarantees a high-security level
- Integrates with cloud-based software as well as on premises
- Comes with easy maintenance and 24h support
- Enables successful and high user adoption
User-friendly defined by frictionless authentication
Every IT manager regards the importance of easy-to-implement security standards. The harder it is to comply with security policies, the more employees will neglect them.
Also, if friction is added to the customers’ authentication flow, the likelihood of application abandonment and user turnoff is vastly increased.
When it comes to customers, a smooth MFA with typing biometrics proves highly essential because any friction that interferes in the user experience can cause user drop-off. Once the security is perceived intrusive, challenging the user to perform additional tasks such as usage of tokens or phone call verification, becomes a deterrent. One of the most hindered by the above customers’ behavior is the BFSI – Banking Financial Services and Insurance industries. Banks must provide extremely secure systems yet must be careful not to harm the user experience. Knowing the banking institution has taken all the appropriate measures to safeguard one’s wealth is a key value proposition for any client. As of late, more and more internet banks challenge these limitations offering better user experience applications.
The security of customers is critical in growing any business. Choosing to optimize security protocols and implement MFA involves a C level decision that spreads over the entire company transforming the IT department to either accepting colleagues or annoying foes. Just like customers, employees don’t necessarily worry about security. Also, the log-in process only deters work from getting done and is not truly desired by any user.
The lost and found departments must add a new section which is for corporate security tokens.
Too many employees neglect security hardware that is already remarkably affecting budgets.
For these reasons, companies must adapt to the employees’ and customers’ expectations: easy to use and frictionless MFA with typing biometrics.
Update 2021: TypingDNA has launched a better MFA/2FA solution. TypigDNA Verify 2FA – replace SMS 2FA codes with better UX: Just type 4 words! Take a look here.
