The total elimination of passwords has been in the offing of cybersecurity enthusiasts and experts for a while, and now, it’s seeing real traction and utilization in the marketplace. The inquiries of businesses about passwordless alternatives have also increased due to the vulnerabilities of the current options.
Passwordless authentication is straightforward, it is about eliminating the problems associated with using passwords. For businesses, it’s about improving not just customer experience but also user experience. There’s no longer a need for storing passwords, leading to breaches and expensive security maintenance costs.
Passwords used to be businesses’ first line of defense but right now, they are the first line of breaches. We are in the age of sophisticated cybercrimes, and businesses can no longer afford to allow themselves to be continually exploited by criminals. Ask most cybersecurity professionals right now about the adoption of passwordless security as its top strategic initiative they are considering.
There’s no better time to dump passwords than now; they have been in use since the 60s and they have served a purpose during the time. All of the efforts of cybersecurity professionals to manage passwords have failed. This is why passwords have to give way to passwordless methods of authentication. It’s all about reinventing all that we know and have deployed regarding cybersecurity, but it’s a change that is necessary.
Considering all the damage done to businesses and investments, you’ll agree that we are better without them.
The Expected Impacts of The Passwordless Methods
The benefits of adopting a passwordless approach to cybersecurity are endless. It’s the future and the future is truly here. Let’s examine the impacts secure passwordless authentication for business will have on cybersecurity and our use of passwords:
No More Weak Passwords
Even in the most advanced workplaces, we cannot eliminate instances of employees reusing passwords for multiple resources. There’s also the case of employees implementing super simple passwords that attackers can easily guess or brute-force.
With passwordless methods, this will no longer be tenable. The business resources will be safer and the continuity of businesses will be guaranteed.
Elimination of Forgotten Passwords Request
On a daily basis, there’s always someone requesting a reset of their passwords. According to Forrester, more than $1 million is annually allocated to password-related support issues. This is not only time-consuming and expensive, but it also slows down the pace of work.
However, in a passwordless environment, there will be no need for password resets as everyone can access digital resources safely without cramming multiple passwords.
An End To Rotation and Support Costs
No one actually enjoys password and encryption key rotation. Imagine having to perform about 50,000 key rotations monthly. This happens among financial institutions that strive to keep business and customer data safe all year round.
By migrating to a keyless and passwordless paradigm, businesses will be able to focus on important areas of their business. This is with the assurance that their data is safely stored.
Less Compliance and Regulatory Issues
There will be less room for manual errors and password mismanagement. More so, passwordless methods reduce and eliminate all forms of compliance concerns of weak, overlapping, overused, or shared passwords.
Without exaggeration, passwordless methods reduce 80% of the security risks often caused by password management. You already know that 81% of cybersecurity breaches are often caused solely by passwords.
Cleaner Digital Environments
Traditional password management is often filled with all manners of complexities and error-prone manual processes. This leads to numerous points of failure and errors which are loopholes that attackers exploit.
However, since passwords are simplified in a passwordless environment, there’s a dependable and streamlined security environment.
Improved User and Customer Experience
For businesses today, improving both UX and CX is a priority. This is however unattainable in a password environment due to the need to create sufficient passwords, and store and remember them.
On the part of the end users, this will be considered stressful and frustrating. In passwordless environments, businesses are able to deliver to their customers a reliable, dependable, and secure experience.
Final Thoughts
For a forward-thinking business, you need to get ahead of the game. Right now, organizations like Microsoft, IBM, Gartner, and others have realized that cybersecurity needs to be reinvented through passwordless authentication methods.
Even though these tech giants are building their passwordless solutions in-house, it’s meant to motivate you and your business. As an early adopter of passwordless environments, you can move at your own pace and design the strategy that works best for you. By the time we see a widespread adoption of the technology, you are already better positioned, and enjoying the impacts.
