Personal finances are more accessible than they’ve ever been. The average consumer has now gone from being limited to using a bank branch when it’s open, to using automated teller machines 24/7 at specific locations, or accessing bank accounts at home on a computer or on the go with a mobile device such as a phone or tablet. However, ensuring that a customer’s money is safe has required more stringent security measures. This is where things can get complicated unless better, more convenient measures like modern biometric authentication are implemented.

Protecting Money

Accessing bank accounts in the past required visiting a bank branch and filling out forms while presenting bank books and other documents that verified identity. However, in the digital world, the mainstay for accessing personal finances has been the password. According to PYMNTS.com, 64% of people who access their financial data do so using a traditional username/password combination at least once a month.

Unfortunately, passwords can be an extremely weak form of security, depending on the individual choice. Through ignorance or neglect, some people choose passwords that are easy to guess, leaving their financial data vulnerable to unauthorized access. The solution is to use a “strong password” and username, which typically consists of long strings of random alphanumeric combinations to make guessing impossible. Unfortunately, this also makes the passwords extremely difficult to remember, making this method incredibly inconvenient.

Making Things Easier

This is where FIDO biometric authentication methods can have a huge impact. According to PYMNTS.com, over 60% of consumers surveyed are willing to try a system other than traditional username/password mechanics. This jumps to over 73% for consumers who access online financial services across multiple mobile devices.

Biometric authentication, rather than memorization of a username and password, uses the individual’s unique characteristics that can’t be exploited through guessing. Those characteristics may be the face, fingerprints, voice identification, or other factors. However, the key feature is that a face can’t be “guessed.” Just because a thief may know what a person looks like, that knowledge doesn’t help them access a system that requires a person’s face. When combined with other mechanisms, such as USB encrypted keys, or multiple forms of biometric confirmation, this can form a multifactor authentication system that is faster than inputting a username and password and more convenient since it doesn’t require memorization.

As more and more people move to a model of accessing data across multiple platforms and devices, better, faster, stronger security systems are needed.

If you’re interested in using the FIDO protocol and moving to a passwordless authentication system, read here to learn more.

Certain types of software are ubiquitous. Microsoft Windows is found on millions of computers worldwide, while Google Chrome is the preferred default search engine for many people. The Java programming language is another such digital tool that has been widely used in everything from mobile software to web-based applications and even middleware that many businesses rely on. Unfortunately, this very ubiquity with software can work against itself in some cases, and cyber security is one of them. A major vulnerability has been discovered in the Log4J logging utility, a favorite of Java developers.

What Is Log4J?

The Log4J utility is one of the most popular developer tools in the Java software world. It is a Java-based, open-source logging utility. It can be programmed to track and report “events,” such as errors so that developers can monitor and eventually address flaws in software. Because of its ease and usefulness, the Log4J utility has been embedded in a huge range of different software, especially for the hundreds of millions of mobile devices in which this embedded software is present.

Unfortunately, a vulnerability has been found in the Log4J utility and because Log4J is so ubiquitous, this has created a severe cybersecurity threat.

Significant Loss Of Control In Cyber Security

The Log4Shell vulnerability has been given a common vulnerability score of 10, which is the most severe designation in terms of threat. Specific examples of exploitation with this cyber security vulnerability include DDOS attacks, remote seizure, control and execution of applications, auctioning access to corporate networks to the highest criminal bidder, and even partitioning of digital resources in a network for the mining of cryptocurrency.

Why It Happens

The Log4Shell vulnerability is the latest example of the struggle between cost and safety. The most cost-efficient approach in software is to use existing resources, sometimes even older ones, rather than internally creating a unique, bespoke solution. However, while this lowers costs, older applications and processes also tend to be more vulnerable compared to the newest application or tool, which, while more expensive, is also far more resistant. Every company wrestles with how much is too much to spend on security.

Now companies are scrambling to identify, address and patch this vulnerability, but it showcases the ongoing need to maintain modernized security measures. New software, new upgrades, and new user control systems such as passwordless identity and authentication reduce the chance of a critical vulnerability being found and exploited because modern passkeys offer phishing resistant, user-centric security.

If you’re interested in using the FIDO protocol and moving to a passwordless identity and authentication system, read here to learn more.

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in augmenting digital security. The use of biometrics and other forms of passwordless authentication are making great strides in helping end-users maintain a safer, more secure environment.

However, it’s not just the users that are crucial to maintaining a secure digital environment. Experts and other qualified digital security staff are essential, and this is becoming a serious problem in the United States.

Demand Outstrips Supply

The United States is currently estimated to have one million Americans working in the digital security field. However, there are also approximately 600,000 vacancies that require urgent filling, and over 500,000 of those are in the private sector alone. According to Forbes, 45% of companies with digital security teams report shortages that need qualified staff.

This can be viewed as a “seller’s market” for IT staff with security experience. The job demand is real, and companies must put in the work to appeal to security specialists and sway their decision to take a job and stay there. However, with so many shortages, there is already a domino effect at play.

Personnel Shortage Means Incomplete Work

Biometrics can only go so far. While a passwordless authentication system can make huge strides in protecting individual users, it should never be relied on as the sole security mechanism. Human expertise is still required, especially when integrating new security technologies into an existing framework.

This is where the shortage in qualified security personnel is at its most acute. Unless qualified personnel are present to work on systemic authentication issues or enterprise security problems within an organization, holistic solutions will not be delivered. In the realm of digital security, this means that system-wide vulnerabilities may go unaddressed due to a lack of skilled workers and their expertise, which together increase enterprise security risk. A lack of proper security staffing can result in a struggle to maintain compliance, with more vulnerabilities and systemic authentication failures that can slip past undetected.

People Matter to Security And Biometrics

It’s not just enough to want to maintain a secure business; there must be an investment in the people. Larger companies with the proper budgets must be willing to invest in a CISO but, more importantly, must be ready to support the needs of that CISO. If security isn’t working because the security staff isn’t getting the people and tools they need to do their work, it’s no surprise that their efforts fall short. Implementing effective and convenient security measures such as biometrics helps, but that’s only part of a coordinated effort.

If you’re interested in using the FIDO protocol and moving to a passwordless identity and authentication system, read here to learn more.