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VOL 12 I ISSUE 03 I 2021

Secured Access

Passwordless- Shaping the Future of Authentication

The 10 Most Trusted Authentication Solution Providers of 2021

Advancing Exponentially The Evolution of Authentication

Ismet Geri

Chief Executive Ofﬁcer

On the Way to Enable a True Passwordless World

EDITOR’S NOTE Securing Your Digital World

n today’s broad landscape of the ever-evolving digital world, the importance of access authentication services has increased exponentially. From Internet Protocol (IP) authentication, embedded URLs, barcode patterns, two-step verifications, and much more, the authentication methods have improved over time to mitigate the looming threats of data breaches and cyberattacks. Learning from a very frightening experience of the data breach that led to proceeding unauthorized transactions, making me despair and dire at the same time. That incident proved to be an eye-opener, making me aware of various things that I should have done to protect digital identity and data. The rise in the number of severe data breaches ranging from individual to large corporate organizations is directing a course to improve the authentication experience, raising multiple levels of assurance. To provide such safety, leading authentication providers consistently prioritize increasing security and improving usability. Considering newer technologies and analyzing the risk that may occur, the authentication industry is thriving to deliver discrete services offering multi-factor authentication with the inclusion of Artificial Intelligence. The adaptive learning of AI assists in determining the real users differing from the one claiming to gain request access, the prime example of it being the face unlock method of verification. AI evaluates and contemplates several attributes, canceling the risk of vulnerable data. In our day-to-day

THE

life, we are prompted through emails, calls, and one-time passwords (OTPs) to login into several apps promoting the usage of intelligent and robust authentication methods. We all are familiar with the unlocking system of biometrics that most of us have access to because of our smartphones; AI studies native and behavioral biometrics to provide a framework of user patterns. Apart from AI, there are many secure methods such as VPN, geo-location, device ID, etc., that can meet the authentication criteria. However, this is simply the tip of the iceberg of the authentication industry, while the hummock of authentication mechanisms provides the strong foundation for the constant changes arising with digitalization. To understand the methodologies of the authentication world, CIO LOOK embarked on a journey to ﬁnd “The 10 Most Trusted Authentication Solution Providers 2021.” We came across the organizations implementing innovative ways to secure our digital life leading towards a better tomorrow. We urge you to meticulously go through the featuring proﬁles in the edition to gain insights into their different methodologies. Also, look through the articles written by our in-house editorial team focusing on shaping the future of authentication; last but not least, learn more about the industry through the CxO written by experts. Delve in!

Aditya Gaikar

COVE RS T

CONTENTS RY O

Veridium On the Way to Enable a True Passwordless World

ARTICLES

Advancing Exponentially

Secured Access

The Evolution of Authentication

PasswordlessShaping the Future of Authentication

Airome

Enabling Businesses to Provide User-friendly, Secured, and Cost-effective Digital Banking Services

Aware Inc.

Own Your Identity

Global ID SA

Using the Keys in Your Hands

Panini

A Respected Player in the Financial Technology Space

Hitesh Dhamani Editor-in-Chief CONTENT

Senior Editor Alan Swann Executive Editors Aditya Gaikar Alex Spellman

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December, 2021

Company Name

Featuring Person

Brief

Airome Technologies airome.tech

Denis Kalemberg Co-founder and CEO

Airome Technologies is a Singapore-based developer of cybersecurity solutions.

Aware Inc. aware.com

Bob Eckel President and CEO

Aware is a leading global provider of biometrics software products, services, and solutions.

Authy authy.com

Daniel Palacio CEO

Authy provides strong authentication for the connected world, protecting people and the enterprise against malicious attacks.

FACETEC facetec.com

Kevin Alan Tussy CEO

FaceTec is the world leader in 3D Face Liveness & Matching software.

Global ID SA global-id.swiss

Lambert Sonna Ph.D CEO

With Global ID technology, organisations no longer need to annoy consumers and citizen with a jungle of pseudoauthentication questions and steps, making processes faster and easier.

IDMERIT idmerit.com

Tony Raval CEO

IDMERIT is committed to the ongoing development and delivery of the most cost-eﬀective and comprehensive global identity veriﬁcation solutions available today.

LetFaster letfaster.tech

Sara Statman CEO

LetFaster, a division of LetFaster Limited, is the only automated platform to oﬀer real-time Biometric Identity Veriﬁcation and fully automated Tenant Screening.

Panini panini.com

Richard Kane CEO

Panini enables clients to capitalize on shifts in the global payments processing market.

Ping Identity pingidentity.com

Andre Durand CEO

Ping Identity delivers intelligent identity solutions for the enterprise.

Veridium veridiumid.com

Ismet Geri CEO

Veridium is the most comprehensive Integrated Identity Platform powered by AI-based Behavioural Biometrics, enabling MFA, digital ID veriﬁcation, and a true enterprisegrade passwordless experience for employees and customers.

Cover Story

Ismet Geri CEO

Veridium

Veridium On the Way to Enable a True Passwordless World

We help businesses excel in their digital authentication management and as a result the way the users of their systems, employees or customers, live the experience through patented, leading passwordless digital identity solutions.

n today's digitized world, it is a must to secure one's data. Though, the traditional methods of protecting digital devices have become pretty predictable and make them more vulnerable to threats. Data breaches and use of this data for ransomware are the most common and dangerous threats. Thus, to prevent such catastrophes, several organizations are constantly trying to innovate technologies that would be effective. However, Veridium has already innovated and improved upon the traditional methods and developed a most comprehensive integrated authentication platform. Veridium is utilizing its technology to lead as a passwordless authentication company. We, at CIO Look, caught up with Ismet Geri, the Chief Executive Ofﬁcer of Veridium, to know more about the company and how it helps companies establish trusted identities, optimize user experience, and stay compliant with diverse regulations The Journey into Authentication Veridium started in 2016 with a mission to be the original passwordless multi-factor authentication company, realizing that there has to be a better way to authenticate users. Traditional multi-factor authentication depends on something you know, have, or are. Out of these factors, the “something you know” has been the most prevalent method of authenticating individuals from a sentry requiring a password when allowing someone inside the wire to one’s ﬁnancial institutions requiring a password to grant the digital access to one’s funds. Having an extensive background and patents in computer vision and neural network processing, Veridium has envisioned a better way of authentication, which grants a natural way that is more powerful and

transparent. The company calls it the path of recognition. This path of recognition follows not from one or more traditional factors. However, it employs location, behavior, and history to increase trust levels while reducing friction to establish that trust for the enduser. Veridium ID authentication platform enables organizations to get rid of passwords from their application, websites, and web services, by employing • Device-independent biometrics capability • AI-driven behavioral analysis • Time-dependent anomaly detection • Use of rich contextual data points to assign trust levels • Supporting and implementing interoperable standards, i.e., FIDO2 Currently, Veridium's mission is to eliminate passwords, eliminate credential theft, eliminate credential fraud, eliminate synthetic identity fraud, and enable simple, secure, and delightful user experiences. Astute Leadership Leading the team of dedicated professionals is Ismet Geri, a cybersecurity and seasoned identity executive expert. He is experienced in building and scaling software vendors' businesses from start-ups to publicly traded companies. In his previous role, Ismet saw the proliferation of digital transformation projects and realized that Identity is the bedrock for every digital interaction. Ismet looked around and saw a mishmash of solutions, but they were all missing the true need, the need to provide a friction-free, delightful and secure user experience. Under his leadership, Veridium has invested and created biometric technology so that the user only has to enroll once and then can use their

Veridium provides an end-to-end authentication platform for all your WFH needs.

biometrics for authentication from multiple endpoints. (e.g., one could enroll their facial biometric on the phone and can then use it on a tablet or a PC/laptop with a web camera.) With Veridium vFace, users don't need expensive or specialized cameras or speciﬁc operating systems. Being a big proponent of standards, Ismet also championed support for FIDO-compliant ID badges, enabling password-free, touch-free, tap-and-go experience for modern access, both for physical and logical access. With his vast sales experience and ability to build global sales teams, Ismet leads from the front as Veridium moves into its next chapter of growth. An Outstanding Approach Veridium believes that the future of digital interaction should require no credentials. It stands ﬁrm on all passwords to be eliminated from user experience and wants identity theft, fraud, and phishing to go the way of the old. It is all possible if there is a shift from authentication into recognition by employing not just the three factors but bringing in rich context around behavior, location, and action. When applied intelligently, there will increase security while elevating the user experience. Veridium created an identity platform to solve this problem. Its platform is a collection of capabilities that work together to make authentication simple, secure, and most importantly, transparent, and user-friendly. These capabilities are: • Supporting a large variety of authenticators and striving to support legacy authenticators, modern authenticators, and of course, its own in-house

authenticators. This approach is important because it allows for easy adoption, easy migration, and no rip and replaces. It supports the end-users where they are comfortable. • Veridium solutions don't force a user to require a phone or token. Its app-less methods can provide secure multi-factor authentication without having to download any application. Its approach to user biometrics does not insist on specialized hardware; it can enable a windows hello type experience for all users across all devices and operating systems. • Its orchestration engine creates a tailored and secure end-user experience by using a variety of inputs about the user, the endpoint, and the context of the task at hand. • Veridium then goes beyond the traditional factors used in Multi-factor authentication, by adding context. This context includes user behavior, past vs. present, device biometrics, how the user and device interact, and user location. It then brings its machine learning capability to bear; analyzing behaviour, userdevice interaction, and endpoint sensors to craft a living baseline for anomaly detection. • Lastly, it integrates with all existing Identity and

All Your Passwordless Needs in One Place.

access control systems so the customer can preserve their investment in capital, people, training, processes. It enables transparent, simple, secure passwordless access to all applications and web services. Gaining a Competitive Edge Veridium's DNA is passwordless. It has designed its authentication platform to eliminate passwords from the ground up. The company's straightforward solutions make it a preferred choice amongst its customers. Veridiums supports a large variety of authenticators as it allows for easy adoption, easy migration, no rip, and replacements, making it comfortable for the end-users. The company understands that the users are equally suffering from app fatigue as much as password and account fatigue. That is why it designed an app-less way for users to have strong passwordless authentication. The company integrates with all existing Identity and access control systems so the customer can preserve their investment in capital, people, training, processes. It goes beyond the traditional factors used in multifactor authentication by adding context, which includes, • A neural net that studies the behavior of normal user/device and user/application

• Device biometrics to know the user and device interactions • User location • Network characteristics Veridium’s approach to using biometrics does not require specialized hardware. Additionally, it is the only vendor to offer tight integration with Citrix, such that its customers can do strong passwordless authentication into their Citrix storefront and applications without the added complexity of Citrix FAS (Federated Authentication Service). The Technological Overview We asked Ismet his opinion on the necessity for businesses to align their offerings with newer technological developments, to which he mentions that technology is embedded into and a part of every aspect of business today. Businesses are continuously seeming to increase their spend on technology, and they have high expectations in return. These expectations go beyond compliance. For a business to be compliant, they need to spend the minimum amount necessary. This also means that there is a disconnect between the business and IT/compliance functions.

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Denis Kalemberg

Co-founder and CEO Airome Technologies

ndoubtedly, the pandemic has accelerated the growth of digitalization. Businesses, as well as consumers, have adapted to the new norm of the pandemic by choosing ecommerce and contactless online services for their essential activities. This transformation is being spearheaded by mobile, as it is the perfect platform to carry out such transactions.

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|December 2021 |

Enabling Businesses to Provide User-friendly, Secured, and Cost-eﬀective Digital Banking Services However, this shift has also added pressure on organizations to manage various levels of fraud related to the transactions. What these organizations are looking for is an option to provide clients with a trusted security solution on one hand and keep user-experience in a digital environment on another hand. This is where Airome Technologies steps in. Airome Technologies is a Singapore-based developer of cybersecurity solutions for digital banking and e-document management systems. Its solutions provide its clients with a highly secured and easy mechanism to protect payments generated via any digital channels, such as Internet banking, mobile banking, card-not-presented (CNP) operations such as online shopping, private banking, and so on. Its technology has a vast deployment footprint covering 300 000 legal entities and more than 2 million private individuals around the globe. At CIO Look, we caught up with Denis Kalemberg, the Co-founder and CEO of Airome, to know more about the company. Below are the highlights of the interview:

“Our solution lowers the risk of unauthorized transactions caused by man-in-the-middle, phishing, or social engineering attacks.” Give us a brief overview of AIROME, its mission, and the key aspects of its strong foothold in the authentication industry. AIROME is a young innovative company with talented people passionate about modern IT technologies and the cybersecurity sphere.

the aspect of the payments' security is especially important. As you know, the weakest point of the digital financial service is a user. That is why it is critical to implement strong security mechanisms on the client side. In this perspective authentication is the significant non-separating part of a modern digital bank. But how to choose the right tools, you may ask. Well, nowadays, we can definitely divide authentication methods performed in a digital financial services into oldfashioned and modern. The disadvantages of old fashioned such as SMS OTP, push notifications,

In modern realities, we are more and more shifting to digital interaction. Our smartphone is becoming like our third hand. In addition to shopping and driving on social networks, we interact with ﬁnancial institutions where

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|December 2021 |

hardware or software OTP generators, static PINs, or even scratch-cards have been described many times. Nobody wants to look for their USB-tokens, smartcards or any kind of hardware OTP-token while conﬁrming a money transfer in online-bank. As well, nobody wants to wait for SMS or retype one-time passwords for transaction conﬁrmation or passing the log-in process in online bank. In many cases OTP is not only userfriendly but also not secure as they have many technical and technological vulnerabilities and can be high-jacked via social engineering, phishing, etc. In addition, it is expensive not only for maintenance but the high risks of fraud cases. Do you think that any business is ready to take risks for billions?

Therefore, our mission is to provide simple and highly effective authentication tools without compromising user experience or user interface for any type of bank client – corporate or retail, for online and mobile bank, online shopping operations and etc. Describe your top-notch solutions and products that address the need of your customers. The core solution is PayConfirm – an omni-channel platform that performs mobile transaction authentication signature (mTAS) to authenticate or confirm any type of operations, including transactions or e-documents, on a mobile device. In the core of a signature, generated by PayConfirm, there are asymmetric cryptographic algorithms, which means that a bank itself doesn't store clients' keys, while digital keys — so-called “private keys” — are generated and stored in client's smartphone and cannot be “intercepted” as well as reproduced by any third

Our specialists not only follow the development of the industry but also study criminal cases happening around the world to then reﬁne and enhance our services.

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|December 2021 |

party. Because of this, our solution provides clients with a high level of security and an easy way to protect their payments, generated via any digital channels, such as Internet banking, mobile banking, CNP operations, private banking.

Deﬁnitely, COVID-19 transformed our habits and lifestyle. This became a great impulse for banks to develop their services in hard environment and proper competition. Such a competition will work positively to all of us.

What makes AIROME a preferred choice among your clientele over other competitors? Well, we are informed that there are a number of quite similar solutions on the market. Some of them are made by well-known international brands. As for PayConﬁrm, it is like a well-proven recipe in the kitchen, where the main result depends on the balance. Our solution is an ideal combination of parameters for end-users as well as for service providers like Banks or FinTech. Going deeper into the privileges for each category, end-user get a better user experience, high level of security.

We do expect the reduction of branch-ofﬁces and a great shift of new forms of service provision. Little by little it becomes a new normal to pass banking onboarding or sign for new services digitally, using trusted technologies. We are proud to support our clients in their competition for the leadership in their markets, as for leaders it is essential to provide clients with a better user experience with a highly secure protection from the most popular cyberattacks. So, our strategy is to help more clients to create our digital future – and our part in it is to make this future secure.

The company receives 30% reduction of annual cost for hardware tokens and maintenance costs, much better protection from fraud, social engineering, SIM swap or etc., risk-based authentication approach available.

In what ways have you or your company contributed to the community? Being an international company, we do understand the importance of communication with local associations. Airome has a close relationship with local associations in the countries of presence. It is our pleasure to share the expertise we have. Besides, we are happy to support governmental projects, so we do expect that good and protected services may be available to everyone and simplify our daily life.

Additionally, AIROME was named in the Market Guide for User Authentication. The guide contains a comprehensive list of user authentication vendors who are meant to provide security and risk management leaders responsible for IAM.

What are your future aspirations? Where do you see Airome in the next ﬁve years? We expect to have Head Quarters in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East, with among the top 10 banks in each region.

From a business leadership perspective, what is your opinion on the impact of the current pandemic on the digital banking sector and the related market? Now it is obvious that many businesses are going to transform to digital format. We see how fast retail, FMSG, banks sectors, and others started to expand their online presence. People want to feel secure and safe, but at the same time, we see that this business format brings risks, ﬁnancial almost. Companies should provide secure services, especially if we are talking about the banking sector. Describe the values that drive your organization. We are personally accountable for what we do. Partnership relations is our top priority. We are passionate about information technologies and upgrade our knowledge every time. In your opinion, what could be the future of the digital banking market post the COVID-19 pandemic? And how are you strategizing your company's operations for that future?

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Advancing Exponentially

AUTHE

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The Evolution of

ENTICATION W

e are living in a world of digitalization. Today, we do most of our transactions using digital platforms. In the increasing world of digitalization, there is a threat to the information we share on digital platforms. Having secure authentication methods that protect and preserve our information without being exploited by unauthorized people or hackers is the most important need in the current times. Digitalization is making lives and processes quicker and easier, but the threat to personal and private information is also growing on the other side. There is a need for secure authentication methods to protect conﬁdential information from hackers.

validating user identity. The move from passwords to ﬁngerprint authentication is also becoming more popular to prevent illegal people from accessing our personal information.

With the evolution in biometric technology, authentication using biometrics and fingerprints will become a more evolved and secured authentication method. Besides, verification using a mobile number with a one-time password and verification of email id by confirming a link sent on the email id is another secure authentication method. The benefits of passwordless authentication methods are huge in enhancing the security of both customers and users in organizations. The evolution of passwordless methods is eliminating the problems associated with the password-based approach. Earlier, having weak passwords, poor management of passwords, the threats due to default settings that stores passwords, using the same password on different websites and for different accounts, the need to change the password frequently, the need to remember all the passwords for all the different websites and different accounts, etc. were some of the problems with password-related authentication method.

At the beginning of the computing era, we authenticated ourselves by using usernames and passwords to access websites and networks. This password-based solution was good in the previous times, but as the number of sites is multiplying and mobile devices have become more common, there is a need for evolved authentication methods to increase security. In the era of the need to access multiple websites and with multiple accounts, the password-based approach is a less efﬁcient form of authentication method. The trusted authentication solution providers are innovating password-less authentication methods to increase the security of the information and make login processes easier for users, employees, and customers. The authentication methods have evolved with the changing times, and the old methods of using usernames and passwords are getting replaced with the evolved forms of authentication methods.

Thankfully, the evolved authentication methods are much easier and user-friendly. The evolution of passwordless authentication solutions is strengthening the security of businesses, users, employees, customers, and all involved stakeholders. Passwordless modules are the present and future of the authentication methods, and many businesses can streamline their workﬂows effectively and update their security with solutions from trusted authentication solution providers. Identity management and authenticity can be enhanced greatly with evolved authentication solutions, and there can be increased efﬁciency and smoothness in the processes.

With the evolved cybersecurity threats and evolving digital technologies, authentication methods have also evolved to strengthen the security of the systems and ensure the protection of the vital information of businesses. A chief approach among the evolved authentication methods is biometric technology for www.ciolook.com

|December 2021 |

Bob Eckel

President and CEO Aware Inc.

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|December 2021 |

Inc.

Own Your Identity

Aware’s mission is to bring biometric solutions to life so that individuals and organizations can own their identities. It involves utilizing biometric technology such as facial or speaker (voice) recognition, to empower people to control how their identity is being used and do so in a secure, convenient way.

ser authentication is a key component in millions of digital applications globally. Primarily using passwords and security questions, these methods were designed to keep user data secure and private. Unfortunately, these contemporary authentication methods have proven to be fraud-prone and frustrating to use, and new, stronger authentication methods have grown in demand to combat the rising trends of identity theft and data breaches. Biometric solutions provider Aware Inc. aims to address these troubling trends, providing its customers with a biometrically based authentication option for greatly increased security and convenience.

Aware is also at the forefront of today’s mobile biometric identity management solutions, with direct experience through its large installed base and in the mobile world. Biometric technology has become increasingly mobile, enabled by the cameras and microphones found in today’s mobile devices to enroll and authenticate individuals safely and securely from virtually any location. Aware has enabled over 30 million biometrically powered mobile transactions in 2021 alone.

Aware has been a leading global provider of biometrics software products, solutions, and services for more than 25 years. Bob Eckel, the President and CEO, leads the charge as an established executive with a passion for leadership, growth, and addressing today’s most pressing digital identity concerns.

Unique Solutions and Applications Bob expresses that historically, Aware has relied on developing software development kits, often referred to as SDKs. Aware’s proven SDKs function like building blocks and create a foundation for engineering to build a speciﬁc solution for a customer.

We at CIO LOOK caught up with Aware in our endeavor to ﬁnd “The 10 Most Trusted Authentication Solution Providers, 2021.” We talked with Bob to gain insights about how Aware is providing critical biometric functionality for applications.

Aware has since assembled and conﬁgured these building blocks into core business offerings that can be marketed, sold and integrated directly by users, developers, and integrators on both traditional and SaaS-based models. Aware’s core offerings include:

Let us dive right in. Who is Aware Aware’s industry-leading biometric technology helps organizations across virtually any industry—from ﬁnancial services and enterprise security to government, law enforcement and civil identity—collect, manage, process, and match biometric images and data for identiﬁcation and authentication purposes. www.ciolook.com

•

Knomi, a premier mobile biometric authentication framework that enables enrollment, authentication, document capture and veriﬁcation, and facial and voice matching for identity prooﬁng. Knomi uses mobile devices to conduct secure and frictionless biometric enrollment and |December 2021 |

•

authentication without passwords. Knomi also features passive liveness detection to determine whether a user is a living person and not some attempt to spoof the system (like a photo, mask or video recording). BioSP is Aware’s industry-leading middleware offering; a modular, open platform that enables biometric systems with advanced biometric and data processing and management functionality in a web services architecture. It’s used by employers and customers at scale to facilitate the secure storage of identity data and coordinate between authentication systems, and can be configured by Aware or by the customer. AwareABIS is Aware’s automated biometric identification system, providing a wide array of biometric identification solutions for any sized civil or law enforcement community. Supporting fingerprint, face and iris recognition, AwareABIS is a flexible, modular platform that can be aligned to a variety of customer needs.

Customer Driven Philosophy

‘‘

Aware has three primary values that drive its strong relationships with its customers. • Biometric Expertise: Aware prides itself on its deep technical expertise spanning multiple decades and leverages this expertise to help customers achieve their specific goals and exceed their overall expectations. • Customer Intimacy: Aware builds long-lasting relationships with its customers by anticipating and understanding their ever-changing needs, with complete rapid response and follow through. • Ease of Conducting Business: Aware is easy for customers to do business with, regardless of their specific need, industry, or application. Customers who do business with Aware can expect a fast, flexible, and proven company that gives them the attention they deserve.

We bring biometric solutions to life so you can own your identity.

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Adoption of Newer Technologies According to Bob, “It’s always a good rule of thumb to stay on top of the latest technology advancements to ensure your offerings remain applicable, available and desirable to customers.” Aware’s biometric offerings are designed to be highly ﬂexible and conﬁgurable so they can both be adapted to changing user needs and integrate easily

|December 2021 |

into a customer’s workﬂow, even as technologies advance.

experience in the industry, providing invaluable work experience for the interns and unique viewpoints on the company and its products for the organization.

Aware’s integration-ready biometric solutions can effectively replace an existing password-based authentication workflow with minimal effort compared to alternatives and reduce the time to market significantly. Aware can do this because it doesn’t focus solely on technology. Instead, it distinguishes itself by sitting at the convergence of identity, biometrics, artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity, adapting to changing market needs and emerging challenges more easily than other providers.

Envisioning a Secure Future As Bob notes, biometrics have evolved a lot in recent years, growing greatly in prevalence. He has witnessed biometric applications taking hold in both the government and commercial space, either to provide safeguards around personal identity to ensure privacy and security, or to enable commercial transactions in a much more secure and convenient way than traditional password-based authentication methods.

A Good Will for the Community With these trends in mind, Aware believes that over the next 5-10 years, consumers will ﬁnally be able to take back control of their identities and how they are used in today’s digital world. Instead of conforming to the many outdated authentication methods currently imposed by the companies, such as passwords and security questions, people will instead take control of how their personal information is used and take advantage of the passwordless nature of biometrics to do so.

Because many of Aware’s employees are socially conscious or have strong ties to their local communities, Aware is proud to offer paid Volunteer Time Off (VTO) to allow them to volunteer for the organizations they feel passionately about. Aware also provides its employees with additional volunteer opportunities, typically around STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Aware routinely encourages employees to support virtual learning opportunities through organizations such as BoSTEM (a Boston-focused charity) so that students who are struggling with these subjects don’t fall behind.

With a long track record of success in the industry and modern mobile authentication solutions already available, Aware expects to be at the forefront of this trend and play a vital role in ensuring people can manage their identities in a secure, convenient, passwordless future.

Lastly, Aware is proud to have a strong intern program. Aware routinely and consistently gives aspiring individuals the opportunity to gain hands-on

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|December 2021 |

Password

any people become overwhelmed with the many passwords to remember for accounts used in their professional and personal lives. There are vast possibilities of data breaches in the everincreasing digital world, and unauthorized users can hack passwords, affecting businesses, leading to the loss of customers. There is always an increasing danger to companies with weaker login credentials. Creating strong passwords and remembering all the passwords for all digital accounts leads to many people choosing repetitive passwords for multiple accounts, increasing the possibility of hacking the passwords by cybercriminals.

Shaping the Futur

capable of meeting these needs. The future of authentication is good with passwordless authentication solutions. Passwordless authentication solutions are affordable solutions, and these solutions are good at increasing the revenue of the businesses by protecting the data and decreasing the complexity. The solutions provide an improved experience for users as well as customers. The more safety and security of the data with fewer data breaches are possible with passwordless authentication solutions.

Due to all the complexities associated with passwordbased authentication methods, we can understand that passwords-based authentication is relatively less relevant for digital access management in the increasingly digital world. With increasing remote work environments due to the pandemic and more workloads being conducted or managed on the cloud platform, people or businesses' digital identities are at risk. Availing digital services or giving digital services to customers requires robust authentication methods that are not hackable and secure from cybercriminals. Passwords are simply becoming inefﬁcient to enhance digital access management more efﬁciently.

Evolving and enhanced authentication solutions are the most critical enabler for digital businesses. Transitioning to passwordless authentication solutions will be the more signiﬁcant change in the future. Authentication with facial or iris biometric technology is becoming more visible in many places due to being the most convincing form of authentication. Passwordless authentication solutions are shaping the future of authentication as they minimize or completely reduce the need to remember any complex passwords, eliminate all the confusion or overwhelmingness, and enhance the safety and security of the businesses' critical information from unauthorized access.

The need for secure authentication solutions is incredibly high more than ever. Authentication solutions for protecting digital identities should be highly safe, secure. Those authentication solutions should be capable of providing privacy and data protection. Passwordless authentication solutions reduce most of the complexities of password-based authentication solutions and offer safer and secure solutions for protecting digital identities. These solutions are scalable, convenient, managed, and are easy to use. Passwordless authentication solutions are good at increasing security and improving the user experience. Safety and good user experience are essential for large-scale applications, and passwordless authentication solutions meet both the needs and are suitable forms of authentication solutions.

Password-based solutions are costly, give poor performance, and their complexity is huge. Passwordless authentication solutions remove all the drawbacks of password-based solutions and provide users greater security and ease of operability. The business beneﬁts of passwordless authentication solutions are huge. Modern digital transformation is possible with passwordless authentication solutions for the users. Digital transformation will drive this shift towards passwordless authentication solutions even more in the future with more enhanced and evolved features through this method. Streamlining and consolidating workﬂows are very nicely possible with passwordless solutions. The future of authentication looks secure with passwordless authentication solutions.

Authentication solutions like biometrics, face recognition, iris recognition, OTP veriﬁcation, and magic link are some of the key passwordless authentication methods that decrease unauthorized access to our most valuable data. Authentication solutions should be good at ensuring security, privacy, sustainability, inclusiveness, scalability, and user experience. Passwordless authentication solutions are

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Secured Access

dless-

re of Authentication

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Lambert Sonna Ph.D CEO Global ID SA

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|December 2021 |

Global ID SA Using the Keys in Your Hands

singularity, and the process is patented. Also, we eliminate the replication of one’s biometry across applications, making us compliant with severe laws such as the EU’s GDPR, and here too, we use a patented process. You get it, and we cherish privacy, so we created a compliant solution to help private, public, and non-governmental organizations achieve certain identiﬁcation of the people they interact with, be they citizens, customers, patients, employees, members, and so on.

oday, electronic identity has become a growing concern for public and private organizations as well as consumers. They all are skeptical about authentication processes carried via information such as passwords or PINs. Though biometric authentication addresses these concerns by being a novel solution that authenticates by a unique physical feature, effectively like a unique key we each possess, it raises the question of the unwilling capture of such a key. It should use a physical feature that is not continuously dispersed and replicated, such as ﬁngerprints, DNA, and faces. And consumers must be able to exercise control over when their biometrics are captured.

Describe your top-notch products and solutions that address the need of your customers. Business leaders really care about their processes and how they can be made better. Our technologies serve their applications and processes, not vice versa.

To address these legitimate needs, Global ID provides authentication technology based on invisible keys that can only be used explicitly.

So wherever and whenever an organization interacts with an individual, we help them be sure who that person is and so avoid risks, losses, ﬁnes, and costs, especially reputation costs. Mistakes and fraud are extremely damaging.

We at CIO Look got into conversation with Lambert Sonna Ph.D., the CEO of Global ID, to know more about the company and how it is safeguarding the identity and privacy of organizations as well as consumers.

Sensitivity to risk does vary among organizations and is usually related to the perceived importance of the transaction – and here’s the catch – important to whom? The organizations that talk to us worry about the importance to the individuals they serve, customers if you prefer. Security does also sell to the individuals being served, especially if it’s simple to use, and consenting to present one’s ﬁnger is as easy as it gets.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Give us a brief overview of Global ID, its mission, and the key aspects of its strong foothold in the Security industry. We help answer a very simple question: are you the person we know? We do this by providing truly private biometric authentication. By private, we mean based on explicit consent, to the contrary of public biometry that anyone can capture without asking for permission, such as voice, face, ﬁngerprints, iris, and DNA. We use multi-view ﬁnger vein biometry to achieve very high www.ciolook.com

For ﬂexibility, we scale from WAN-based authentication all the way to standalone, portable, bearer authentication. We can also enroll or register individuals ofﬂine in a remote location and synch records when back online.

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“With Global ID technology, consumers and citizen no longer need to disclose non-pertinent personal data to authenticate themselves. Just one ﬁnger will do, and only with their consent.”

OEM integrations and fresh new ideas. Then focus, because authentication is all we do, we are not a giant multinational with mixed priorities, and we do not have the pretense of doing work that value-added integrators and application creators do very well. Finally, our team is diverse, and we want to keep it that way.

What makes Global ID a preferred choice among your clientele over other competitors?

Undeniably, technology is playing a signiﬁcant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

By far, the most positive emotional response we get is about respect for privacy. People are clearly fed up with abuse, they want to regain control, so there is welcome acceptance of our technology.

We are lucky to be very close to the research community, even more so within our home base, Switzerland. As we offer a security solution essentially, constantly improving our intellectual property is critical to best serve our customers, we need to be particularly active and responsive to new threats. Beyond research, when it comes to industrialization, we rely on a strong engineering community within Switzerland, well-networked with nearby countries for ﬂexibility.

The next positive response is about the business value of true identification, with consent, via very advanced technology. We have a true digital replacement for our beloved pen and paper signatures without the risks and costs of signature scanning. Just think of the workflow savings! The “cherry on the cake” comes from simplicity, by design. For individuals served, simplicity means no more intrusive personal questions, stuff to remember, and objects to lose or have stolen. For organizations, simplicity means a flexible architecture with APIs to add high-unicity authentication to whatever applications or processes they have.

What, according to you, could be the next big change in the data protection industry? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change? We can already see the growth in authentication needs across sectors, both in person and online. This will continue and accelerate to the point where, if we continue with the complicated, artiﬁcial tools that are proliferating, doing anything that has a digital element will become a painful experience. Stuff to remember, to

Describe the values that drive your organization. Privacy and simplicity I already mentioned. I can add ﬂexibility in design and attitude, which open doors to

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|December 2021 |

carry around, to lose or forget, we cannot go on like this. So, pushback from the people they serve will force organizations to ﬁnd much more user-friendly, simpler, faster methods. We clearly, strongly believe that easy, private biometry is the best way out of the labyrinth.

Provide a few customer/client testimonials that rightly exhibit your company’s expertise in the market. Well, the vast majority so far is from the medical world, where certainty of identity and traceability are critical. This sector is heavily scrutinized by authorities, by insurers, and by each one of us as eventual patients. They really like the certainty, of course, but they also really like the scalability, the ease of integration, and how easily their customers accept the use of private biometry. The beneﬁt extends up and down the value chain, from the insurer, private or public, to professionals, to institutions, to pharmacies, and so on.

In what ways have you or your company contributed to the community? As a start-up, although we have limited financial resources, we are very attentive to requests by NGOs that support humanitarian missions, an example of directly applying our authentication solution to practical applications catering to the well-being of communities in all countries. This is highly appreciated. What are your future aspirations? Where do you see Global ID in the next five years? The fast growth of demand for our technologies, due in large part to the increasing need for security via certainty of authentication and to the simplicity we offer, we will see ourselves very well established in the medical sector, where the need for certainty is critical because of safety and fraud prevention. We also expect a strong pull from other sectors requiring certainties, such as financial operators and public services. Finally, the use of private and reliable vein biometry “keys” to sign and authenticate documents will likely surprise us all in applicability across businesses.

www.ciolook.com

|December 2021 |

Richard Kane CEO Panini

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|December 2021 |

A Respected Player in the Financial Technology Space

oday, many ﬁnancial institutions are striving to leverage technology in order to reduce operating costs, build infrastructure to reduce fraud and risk, and plan for the next generation of banking. Panini is responding to these needs with effective technological solutions and a suite of value-driving services.

in the interbank process, enabling important efﬁciencies and savings to our customers. The latest frontier in this application is the emergence of "intelligent" scanners, with Panini leading the way. These devices are capable of autonomous processing, are easier to install and support than traditional peripherals, and allow a wider range of applications. Moreover, we are now stepping into the market of identity veriﬁcation and authentication solutions with a brand new and evolving portfolio meant to increase the security of our client base while keeping their individual and business customers at ease.

Panini's mission is to improve customer efﬁciency and fraud prevention via trusted and innovative technologies for check truncation and secure identity. With a successful history of enabling clients to capitalize on shifts in the payment processing market, Panini has become a highly respected player in banking technology. The company has been in business for over 75 years since its foundation in Torino, Italy in 1945, but its global expansion took a decisive turn in 1995 with the foundation of Panini North America in Dayton, Ohio. The U.S. is currently Panini's largest market, and the company's products and services are utilized in over forty countries across six continents.

How is Panini improving customer efﬁciency and fraud prevention? Over the past decade, we have done important work on our core technologies to reduce check fraud, such as incorporating ultraviolet and infrared light to help spot counterfeit or forged checks, and micro-perforation detection via ultrasounds, which is a speciﬁc advantage in Italy.

Panini's scalable check imaging systems address the complete range of distributed capture opportunities, resulting in the world's largest deployed base of scanners. Its expanding portfolio of secure identity technologies includes reliable, user-friendly options for identity veriﬁcation and authentication.

Today, we are venturing into the prevention of other types of fraud, such as identity theft and impersonation, with our new secure identity offering that leverages biometrics-based authentication. Biometrics, one could almost say by definition, stands for security coupled with convenience. An innovative, cost-competitive and low-friction application built on biometrics is what many financial institutions are either already looking for, or perhaps ready for without even realizing it. We believe most customers will embrace it enthusiastically, if it's proposed and justified to them in a meaningful way.

We at CIO Look caught up with Richard Kane, the CEO of Panini, to know more about the company and how its technology can make a signiﬁcant difference for its customers. Below are the highlights of the interview: Describe your top-notch offerings that address the need of your customers.

As a well-known organization, what innovative technologies are you implementing to elevate your services to be more productive?

Panini's core offering is related to check scanning – allowing ﬁnancial institutions to truncate paper checks – i.e. convert them into digital data as early as possible

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We believe intelligent devices are the future – devices that you can access with simplicity from a variety of

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Then comes empowerment: once we know where our goal is set, Panini people will act with an entrepreneurial mindset and relentless determination, and never give up until we get there. This attitude has truly impressed me.

“Our ambition is to offer our customers the innovation necessary to improve their operational processes while making the new technologies more achievable.”

In what ways have you or your company contributed to the community? Our employee base is engaged, and willing to give back to our communities. Panini made a substantial donation to a few Italian and American healthcare institutions fighting COVID-19 in early 2020, but it's giving our personal time which really fills us with pride. Our North American subsidiary has recently engaged with the Dayton Food Bank and Hannah's treasure chest, a nonprofit supporting the lives of children in need.

hosts, with multiple interfaces, and capable of their own choices. It's impressive for me, as a newcomer, to acknowledge that while the paper check has not substantially changed for decades, we haven't given up innovating on the related technology: today, we are implementing a new ﬂeet management system that leverages our last generation scanners as a means to simplify maintenance, freeing up our customers' technical staff for higher value tasks and increasing their overall productivity.

In Italy, during these challenging times when working with people has been subjected to restrictions, we have carried out initiatives oriented towards the environment, such as cleaning hiking trails. I would also highlight that our core products, which transform paper documents into bits and bytes, have an intrinsic positive impact on the environment – because moving payments data pollutes signiﬁcantly less than moving paper. What are your future aspirations? Where do you see Panini in the next ﬁve years?

And while we proudly acknowledge that the application of this new architecture is determining the undeniable success of our latest scanners, we are extending this philosophy to our secure identity products: in the near future, bank customers will be able to authenticate ofﬂine, using their biometrics and an encrypted credential they own and control, with no need for the institution to worry about storing and protecting sensitive biometric data. This truly combines security and convenience in an unprecedented way and we're sure the market will understand this outstanding value proposition.

Panini will continue to evolve, both with our technology and with our people, as we further our expansion beyond the ﬁnancial market. The business world is becoming increasingly more complex and riskier than ever before. Identifying your interlocutor in a secure way, while not making them consistently jump through hoops to ensure that the proper conﬁdence levels are being met, is becoming a widespread requirement not only for banks but across many industries: the public sector, healthcare, travel, and entertainment – and I could go on.

Describe the values that drive your organization. I've been in Panini for ten months, and I must say I have never encountered such a level of perseverance as I can ﬁnd in our employees. It all starts from customercentricity: we strive to understand our customers' pain points and to solve them with our ingenuity – though never forgetting that excessive customization is dangerous, so we keep our eyes and ears open on general market requirements. www.ciolook.com

We believe that we have something interesting to say in this domain, thanks to our research & development capabilities coupled with our ability to listen to our customers. So while we will still be involved in the world of payments, prepare to hear more about our expanding identity-related offering!

|December 2021 |