Identity-Bound Biometrics Could Eliminate Hidden Costs Of Current Passwordless Solutions, Says BIO-key

With the ever-growing number of websites that individuals need to log into these days, for both work and personal matters, creating and remembering countless, unique, and secure passwords have become a substantial challenge. In the workplace, specifically, this could lead to potential security risks as employees may end up ignoring security protocols altogether due to password fatigue, putting their organization’s data security at risk.

In addition to the pain points arising from having to remember passwords, traditional authentication methods also result in mounting costs for organizations  – with sizable IT helpdesk resources required just for password resets alone. Additionally, according to the World Economic Forum, 80% of all cybersecurity breaches occur as a result of weak or stolen passwords. 

With all the issues associated with password-based authentication, organizations are now seemingly ready to move away from this approach. A recent survey showed that 82% of business leaders currently say that they are ready to implement passwordless authentication options within their organizations. 

Current Passwordless Authentication Options May Not Be The Best

Most of the passwordless authentication solutions adopted today rely on hardware tokens or mobile devices – which present their own set of issues, including security risks from the loss of the physical devices and usability challenges in restricted areas of operation such as contact centers and manufacturing floors. Additionally, authentication methods involving mobile phones could involve hidden costs for both the employer and employee. 

BIO-Key International Inc. BKYI, a provider of Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions, reports that it offers authentication options that could address such risks and issues by offering an easier and more secure way to authenticate the identity of employees, customers, and suppliers. The company says that its unique approach to authentication uses Identity-Bound Biometrics (IBB) to manage access across devices and applications within the organization. IBB is part of BIO-key's unified IAM platform — PortalGuard® IDaaS (Identity-as-a-Service) — which offers various authentication options, including biometrics, to meet the security goals of most modern organizations and deliver an optimized user experience, reports the company.

BIO-key also recently introduced new authentication methods to its one-of-kind multi-factor authentication mobile app, MobileAuthTM, which now includes server-secured facial recognition, device-based biometrics for Android and iOS, and push token support. The app was initially launched with just one biometric option, PalmPositiveTM, which supported secure biometric authentication through palm scanning. 

Benefits Of BIO-key’s Identity-Bound-Biometric Solution

According to the company, Identity-Bound Biometrics provides a unique and superior level of security as it verifies the identity of the person completing an action– logging into a system, completing a transaction, accessing private information–instead of just authenticating a device, token, or credential. 

Traditional passwordless options involving a physical device like a mobile phone or token simply confirm that an approved device is being used. There is no way to confirm that the device is actually being used by the authorized individual.

IBB offers flexibility and ease of use, where a one-time enrollment quickly sets up access across multiple devices and locations for employees in organizations implementing their solution, says the company. There is also greater deployment versatility and scalability across use cases with BIO-key’s IBB solution, which enables enterprises to provide a consistent and seamless user experience for their employees. In addition, it reduces overall costs by streamlining IT department resources and eliminating operational redundancies yielded by traditional authentication systems.

The company reports that its IBB option is cloud-ready and easily integrated with systems, applications, and infrastructures. It is a safe, efficient, cost-effective, and secure option that can be applied to a range of common use cases, including shared workstations, zero-trust environments, remote access, and scenarios where mobile devices are not permitted.

Through its trusted biometric authentication solution, Identity-Bound Biometrics, BIO-key believes it could enable organizations to move into a passwordless future with a solution that’s easy to use and hard to hack. IBB could help employers, employees and customers by eliminating the hidden costs associated with current options that involve mobile phones, hardware tokens or other physical devices with a more sensible authentication solution. 

More information about BIO-key’s Identity-Bound Biometric solutions can be found on BIO-key.com.

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