Data security: Companies planning to ditch passwords
Businesses are planning to ditch passwords as they look to strengthen their authentication processes, new research finds.
A poll of IT decision-makers at 200 firms by Wakefield Research found 69 per cent of organisations are likely to completely phase-out passwords within the next 5 years.
Recent high-profile data breaches have made firms worry about the strength of password-based security policies, SecureAuth, which commissioned the study, said.
On average, companies are only protecting 56 per cent of their assets with multi-factor security techniques, the research found, with IT managers citing resistance from senior executives and disruption to workers' routines as the main reasons they've yet to switch to more sophisticated processes.
Multi-factor authentication means users can only get access to something - such as logging onto a computer or a database - after going through 2 or more rounds of authentication.
It's thought such an approach is more secure than just a single password, which could leave companies at greater risk of cyber attack.
Wakefield said other reasons firms have not shored-up their authentication are:
Lack of resources to support maintenance
Steep employee learning curve
Concern the authentication wouldn't work
SecureAuth CEO Craig Lund said: "On the heels of recent mega breaches such as Yahoo, in which user names, passwords and security question responses were compromised, there's a growing movement from individuals and businesses for an authentication overhaul.
"Single-factor, password-based authentication - and even many traditional two-factor approaches - are no longer enough in today's increasingly digital world. And with costs associated with cyber attacks totalling millions of dollars a year, it's in everyone's best interest to make it more difficult for attackers to cause further damage to our economy."
In August, Yahoo said it was looking into claims a hacker had posted details of 200 million user accounts on the so-called dark web.
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