Is passwordless authentication the future?

Businesses across industry verticals are rapidly evolving, with consumer experience and data protection and privacy emerging as critical players of growth and progress. The advancement and severity of attacks launched by cybercriminals can no longer be overlooked, with accounts hacked every 39 seconds, and almost 46% of those surveyed agree that their current measures are unable to mitigate such attacks. This has led Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Chief Infomation Security Officers (CISOs), industry leaders, and security experts alike to accelerate their efforts in developing mechanisms to authenticate user identity securely and conveniently. Key technologies like pass keys are being given enhanced focus by leading Tech giants such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. This is where passwordless authentication steps in. This identity security technology deploys security tokens, personal identification numbers, and an individual's unique biological characteristics, such as fingerprint recognition, iris recognition, face recognition, voice analysis, and many others, to authenticate access to resources.

The passwordless authentication global market size has been pegged at U.S. $18.5 billion in 2023 and is expected to exceed $53 billion by 2030. This can be attributed to two main factors. Firstly, consumers worldwide are easily overwhelmed by the frequency of products and services available online through sites and apps, forcing them to go for short and easy passwords. However, the flip side is that hackers find it much easier to infiltrate such accounts. Complicated password processes, on the other hand, prove cumbersome and defeat the very purpose of an easy and convenient user experience. Secondly, sophisticated attacks such as typosquatting, social engineering, vishing, smishing, ransomware, DDoS, etc., are on the rise. As passwordless authentication helps address the abovementioned challenges, it is increasingly gaining popularity.

While many support this move, numerous stakeholders are reluctant to change due to security concerns and prevalent challenges like:

• Cost of deployment and effort
• Exhaustive and complicated establishment processes
• Security limitations

Removing the innate weaknesses involved in traditional or password-based authentications and reducing the friction caused by these methods are significant concerns for most businesses. Password-less authentication can help address such issues effortlessly. In addition, businesses can also reap several benefits, including:

Enhanced user experience: Consumers can easily log in without the hassle of remembering or noting down passwords, improving user experience.Therefore, reducing process complexity is a win-win situation for businesses and their customers.

Strong cybersecurity posture: As phishing and brute force attacks keep businesses on edge, a strong cybersecurity posture helps mitigate them effectively.

Greater productivity: No complex passwords or processes mean seamless and fast operational excellence, hence, improved productivity.

Reduced long-term costs: Although initial investment could be on the higher side, once implemented, passwordless authentication can help effectively safeguard private client, financial, or intellectual property data. This considerably reduces annual expenditures, litigations, and fines arising from cyber incidents, etc.

Reinforced security: When a business consumer relationship involves setting passwords, it requires extensive password databases or other data components, providing a lee way or an attack surface for cybercriminals to exploit. Password-less authentication doesn’t require humungous data sets, preventing the possibility of breach or theft.

The time has come for businesses to embrace password-less security. By collaborating with professional identity security services, businesses can drive the desired agility and scale while maintaining a consistent, high quality consumer experience. Their team of security experts can enable the workforce to access online accounts. Security leaders can play a pivotal role in constantly improving and expanding passwordless authentication across all industries and institutions in the private and public sectors.