The power and effectiveness of the password

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The discussion about a passwordless future has heated up considerably — again — recently. Several large tech companies have been working on the concept for almost 20 years. Then, in May 2022, Apple, Google, and Microsoft joined forces in a highly unusual synergy to expand support for passwordless authentication systems across various platforms.

Passwords don't go away

The word "passwordless" is simple, elegant and sublime, but somewhat exotic. The truth is that a world without passwords is very far from becoming a reality, if it ever will be. Nobody likes passwords, but they are intrinsically tied to the back-end architecture of authentication and encryption systems by design. It's not trying, working hard, or even dreaming. It's just a function of how encryption schemes work. For example, smartphones and other tokenized devices are prone to theft, loss, and bugs to begin with. Even with biometrics, unless you undergo surgery, it is impossible to alter your fingerprint, retina or face after the associated data has been stolen or compromised by cybercriminals.

Password usage is growing at a significant rate

Moreover, not only are passwords intrinsic to the functioning of modern connected devices, but these devices are now everywhere. In the last three years alone, the number of IoT devices powered by distributed work and the proliferation of cloud-based computing have caused an exponential increase in the number of passwords.

Employees work from virtually anywhere and often over unsecured networks. We all now rely on a wide range of cloud-based services. The public and private sectors are using more devices of different types and with different operating systems and authentication schemes than ever before. All this resulted in a significant increase in the password. Every website, native app, system, and database requires passwords at some level, even if biometrics are used as a convenience factor. The thing is, strong encryption keys cannot be generated without a password. Even single sign-on solutions require a password, at some level of the architecture, to authenticate a user, before the user transacts with SAML-compliant authentication services.

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register here Password security issues and human behavior are intrinsically linked

Companies around the world have tried to stay on top of advanced and progressive hybrid working styles by implementing new levels of security, although the password remains the central pillar of a security system. Cybersecurity teams are struggling to keep up with the changing habits of their workforce, the massive increase in cloud-based applications, the infrastructure they need to manage and secure, and yes, the onslaught of cyberattacks more sophisticated.

IT organizations face a pervasive and critical dilemma of how to achieve visibility, security, and control of the organization's entire infrastructure. This means keeping tabs on every user on every device as they work...