The death of the password expected to be biggest trend for 2020

One of the key trends to impact millions of people and businesses in 2020 is the death of the password. Passwords are widely being recognised as an outdated, costly method of authentication, and the source of most cyber-attacks.

According to James Stickland, CEO of Veridium: “Passwords account for over 80% of data breaches , with resets costing firms a staggering $1.9m a year . In 2020, the expansion of 5G – the wireless replacement for broadband that is up to 100 times faster than its predecessor – will escalate the volume and speed of data theft, empowering hackers to penetrate vital company data . As a result, more and more organisations are turning towards biometric authentication to mitigate against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, whilst enhancing the user experience.”

He continues: “Increasingly, companies and consumers alike are realising the weakness of passwords. Millions of people use the same password for multiple logins, leaving valuable personal data at risk. In addition, employees must remember an average of 27 passwords , which on top of costing businesses at least $70 per user per year to manage resets, also decreases productivity significantly. Gartner forecasts that by 2022, . Gartner forecasts that by 2022, 60% of businesses will have cut their reliance on passwords by half . Biometric authentication is a far more secure alternative to this obsolete, easily compromised security measure.”

He continues: “This year will see regulation and compliance becoming more business critical for financial institutions with the delayed Strong Customer Authentication of the EU PSD2 directive set to come into force in March. This will require banks to provide two layers of authentication on purchases over £28, with a view to improving the security of online transactions. Implementing biometrics is a cost effective way of fulfilling such regulatory requirements whilst maximising security and guarding against fraud.”

James observes that other security trends in 2020 will include:

Identity and e-commerce fraud – Global e-commerce fraud is projected to cost $130bn by 2023 . This issue has been amplified by artificial intelligence powered ‘deepfake’ threats which imitate characteristics such as voice. These are anticipated to cost businesses more than $250m in identity fraud scams this year.

James comments: “Integrating innovative behavioural biometric authentication, which uses artificial intelligence to identify unique mannerisms such as gait, or patterns of behaviour such as the time of day an app is accessed, as well as location, is widely being regarded as a the final frontier in security, and a solution to such advanced threats.”

Mobile-first security – Gartner predicts that by 2022, 70% of organisations will be using biometric authentication for employees via smartphone apps, which is a huge rise from less than five per cent in 2018.

James concludes:“This year will also see mobile-first authentication strategies take precedence. Biometric facial recognition hardware will be present in 90% of smartphones by 2024, thus enterprises with a Multi Factor Authentication strategy will provide increased security for their clients and the organisation and also an improved and more seamless user experience.”