Overcoming the Hassle of Passwords and MFA with Passwordless Authentication
Recent research into infosec practices among enterprise leaders shows that CISOs are losing confidence in password and pin-based MFA when compared to other security tools. It’s widely accepted that MFA has deep vulnerabilities: not only can it be bypassed entirely, but it also offers no protection once a user is authenticated, which leaves organizations vulnerable. That’s why enterprise infosec leaders are recognizing passwordless authentication as the next big thing in security.
The drawbacks of passwords are well known. They are hard to remember, easy to hack, and a general nuisance for both end users and security personnel. Yet passwords remain a staple of many organizations’ security frameworks; despite the fact that the cybersecurity industry has been calling for the death of passwords for nearly 20 years now.
Survey data from 451 Research’s Voice of the Enterprise (VotE) service shows that just 61% of enterprises have deployed multi-factor authentication (MFA). This is well below other common security tools like firewalls (90%), email security (82%) and endpoint security (78%). Leaders are recognizing that traditional MFA is ultimately just a “Band-Aid” that replaces or augments the insecure password with an additional credential, which hackers can also compromise.
Passwordless authentication aims to improve adoption by making stronger forms of authentication more seamless. It fosters a more positive user experience by completely eliminating passwords or other “shared secrets” like usernames and shared secrets. Leading organizations are now adopting access control systems that offer continuous, risk-based authentication.
