User Authentication in Relation to Security, Fraud, and Other Technology Domains

The attack surfaces and levels of risk for businesses are increased by new business models. The objectives of passwords are utterly unmet. They give very little support for an identification claim. No such thing as a "strong" password exists. Attackers can take advantage of a number of password flaws. For instance, malware or phishing assaults cannot be prevented by the best password policy. Therefore, having a very stringent password policy is useless since it tends to promote poor security practices while providing little additional value above a policy that considers user experience.

Thus, to lessen or eliminate identity-related threats, IT management must therefore invest in more user authentication techniques and solutions. Although it often doesn't go far enough or in the proper direction, regulatory compliance is a major factor in investments in new user authentication systems. IT executives need to move away from compliance checkboxes and toward risk-based decision-making. To build trust in a digital user's identity, user authentication is a crucial security measure.

User authentication is the real-time corroboration of a person’s claim to an identity previously established to enable their access to digital assets. It is fundamental to identity-first security and an imperative for IT leaders. It must provide sufficient credence in an identity claim to bring account takeover and other digital-identity risks within an organization’s risk tolerance. And thus provide a foundation of trust for security, fraud, and other identity and access management controls.

Since the introduction of passwords in 1961, user authentication mechanisms and technologies have advanced significantly, but laws and vendor marketing materials still heavily rely on the "three-factor" paradigm, which is defined as "something you know, hold, and are (or do)".

It is widely but erroneously accepted that the strength of an authentication method is directly related to the number of authentication factors used. Simply counting authentication factors may lead enterprises to make imprudent choices.

The market for user authentication is dominated by established suppliers who concentrate on traditional, credential-based techniques, but there is a constant infusion of new providers, including true innovators who combine traditional techniques with sophisticated analytics.An ever-wider variety of options addressing diverse user authentication needs is offered by vendors in security markets, as well as authentication specialists. IT leaders must balance innovation against proven effectiveness and ease of implementation.

Investment in user authentication protects the value of other fraud, and security investments, where?trust in peoples’ identities confidence that an account?hasn’t?been taken over is foundational to:

• Other functions, like authorization, especially segregation of duties, audit (individual accountability), and analytics.
• Anti-fraud initiatives in customer.
• Cloud, network, application, and data security.