Author: Georgina Eulylia van den Heever, Content Marketing Coordinator, ITR Technology
With World Password Day behind us, let’s recap on one of the hottest topics at the moment: the evolution of passwordless authentication.
Passwords have been the first line of defence against cyberattacks and essentially, our daily lives for as long as one can remember. Passwords are simple, a comfort zone and everyone’s go-to – but we tend to forget that “everyone” includes hackers and threat actors as well.
It is vital to keep in mind that cyberattacks and criminals become more and more sophisticated on the daily. Hackers are constantly on the lookout for new ways to bypass the latest password protection strategies. Beyond this, no matter what strategy we have chosen to implement in our organisation, it is also considered useless if the end user is negligent about it. More so, if not enough planning, monitoring, and updating goes into the strategy itself.
We must ask ourselves, is it worthwhile giving up all this time and effort for a component which is actually deemed to be one of security’s weakest links?
Introducing passwordless authentication – a cost-effective, user-friendly, and enhanced cybersecurity approach for gaining access to an application or IT system.
Passwordless login methods such as biometrics, hardware tokens and passkeys are utilised in this approach. These methods significantly reduce the risk of cybercrimes and data breaches as they are nearly impossible to copy or steal.
You can also bid farewell to the following issues when adopting a passwordless architecture in your organisation:
- Exposure to data and identity theft caused by unauthorised access.
- Managing password storage and fulfilling password regulation requirements.
- Expenses relating to password storage and administration, including password resets.
- Unpleasant user experience relating to memorising complicated passwords.
So you’re probably wondering, can passwordless accounts be hacked?
Though it’s not impossible to hack a passwordless account, it is much harder as they are not as vulnerable to various password attacks, such as brute force attacks, dictionary attacks, rainbow attacks, credential stuffing, phishing, and keylogging.
I’m sure you’re also wondering what the adoption of such an approach will entail. In short, it all depends on the security strategy, budget and needs of your organisation. Before implementation, you will need to put careful thought into a plan keeping these three aspects in mind.
This may sound daunting but if you are eager about applying passwordless authentication in your organisation, ManageEngine has a tool which will make the transition a little easier.
ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus is an identity security solution with adaptive MFA and SSO capabilities. ADSelfService Plus offers passwordless authentication during which users are authenticated using strong authentication methods such as those mentioned above. These methods can be implemented in an adaptive manner, that is, triggering multi-factor authentication (MFA) for users based on their IP, geolocation, device type, and business hours.
By starting your passwordless journey with ADSelfService Plus, you will be enforcing factors that are:
- Impossible to replicate. Biometrics such as fingerprints, retina patterns, and facial recognition are currently the strongest authentication factors.
- Time-bound. Let’s say a hacker retrieves a verification code, it will be useless by the time they try to apply it.
- Ubiquitous. In a sense that push notifications and TOTPs are sent to mobile devices.
Leave the days of reused passwords, breached passwords, and weak passwords in the past. Go passwordless with ADSelfService Plus today.
Sources:
https://mashable.com/article/what-a-passwordless-future-could-look-like
https://www.itweb.co.za/content/xnklOqz1rWAM4Ymz
https://www.manageengine.com/products/self-service-password/passwordless-authentication.html