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EDITOR’S QUESTION
RUPERT SPIEGELBERG,
CEO, IDNOW
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P
assword security is fairly near the top
of most businesses and organisations’
employee agenda. Unfortunately,
despite high levels of awareness and
education around the importance of
password security, the gulf between listening
to advice and actually acting upon it is
just too wide, and more often than not,
hackers gain the keys to the kingdom via
well-meaning employees. Passwords are
a ubiquitous part of the digital age and
with the growth in online business, it is not
uncommon for people to need multiple
passwords, which unfortunately leads to
duplication or simplification for ease of
memory. The problem with this is that, for
passwords to be effective, they need to be
an uncommon word of eight letters or more
and not used anywhere else. It is perhaps
unsurprising then that passwords are often
the easily opened gate into an organisation.
Perhaps the solution for businesses is to
move away from reliance on password-
only security and towards biometric
authentication techniques (face, voice,
fingerprint, iris recognition). As these
systems become increasingly intelligent,
more companies are turning to biometric
authentication for heightened security.
HSBC is an example of an organisation
that is offering its First Direct customers
the opportunity to identify themselves
using finger and voice print authentication,
rather than stating their telephone security
password or PIN number. HMRC recently
revealed that 6.7 million people so far have
signed up to its voice identification, while
HSBC says it has more than 10,000 people
registering each week.
While not yet perfect, many businesses
are turning to biometric authentication as
a more secure alternative to passwords.
Perhaps voice recognition is enabling
organisations to say goodbye to hard-to-
remember passwords and pin codes.
www.intelligentcio.com
“
DESPITE HIGH LEVELS OF
AWARENESS AND EDUCATION AROUND
THE IMPORTANCE OF PASSWORD
SECURITY, THE GULF BETWEEN
LISTENING TO ADVICE AND ACTUALLY
ACTING UPON IT IS JUST TOO WIDE.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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