The Future of Authentication (original) (raw)

2012, IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine

Simple passwords have been around for a long time but are now destined to become a thing of the past. Widely recognized as the weakest link in computer security, corporate enterprises and financial institutions are scrambling to find suitable, secure alternatives. This is spurred by the 2005 FFIEC Security Guidance that wants all online financial services to have increased authentication security technologies in place by 2007. Will Online Users Log On or Check Out There are dozens of security authentication methodologies to choose from. As organizations select and implement individual solutions, the overall impact on the online community will be substantial. Since the average user has 5 plus passwords, and each organization will adapt their own technology, users will be confronted with learning and using several logon systems. Power internet users have an even bigger problem. Imagine for a moment a power Internet user with dozens of password protected accounts. These might include: e-Bay, PayPal, an online brokerage account, one or more online banking accounts, one or more e-mail accounts, and several online shopping accounts. Each will have their own authentication technology ranging from tokens, to authenticators, to cryptographies.

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