What is passworldless authentication?
With tech giants Apple, Google, and Microsoft all making moves to support passwordless, app-based login, many have turned their attention to passwordless authentication. But what is passwordless authentication exactly and why might you consider adopting it?
Passwordless authentication involves verifying a user’s identity and allowing them login to a computer system without using a password. Instead, the user will use an app or biometric solution to authenticate their identity.
So why is this more secure than using a password?
Well first and foremost strong password hygiene and best practice can be difficult to enforce across an organisation, with individuals using the same or similar passwords across multiple accounts and not updating them regularly. In fact Mimecast reported that 7/10 respondents believe that employee behaviours such as poor password hygiene are putting their companies at risk. By eliminating the need for passwords, the security risk posed by poor password hygiene is alleviated. Stolen credentials pose a major security risk to your organisation, your contacts, your finances and your private data. Passwordless authentication offers a secure way of logging in to devices and applications that doesn’t suffer from these risks.
