How Authentication Has Evolved From Passwords to Passwordless?

The Evolution of Authentication: From Passwords To Passwordless And Beyond!

Introduction: Things have significantly changed since “authentication” was first introduced to the computing and networking industry. In the early days, it served as a single-factor identity factor solution when security concerns were not yet serious. Later, we saw increased efforts from IT experts to design better authentication strategies that could deliver more secure digital experiences.

As the modern world evolves into a more technologically-driven society, authentication becomes increasingly important as it secures our devices and diverse operations across various platforms and organizations. Now, what is authentication? And how has it evolved to meet the demands of today’s consumer and enterprise needs?

How New-Age Authentication Works?

As customers demand an excellent user experience, seamless authentication is becoming a must for brands. Security is one of the major concerns among businesses, which is why relying on old-school authentication methods may seem risky. New ways of authenticating users can help companies ensure robust security without compromising their customer’s experiences.

1. Social Login Social login is a type of authentication in which users sign in to a website or app with their existing accounts from various social providers. It simplifies sign-in and registration experiences, providing a convenient alternative method to create an account where it is mandatory. For consumers, social login is a single-click login method for accessing the website or app, one in which there is no need for excess credentials and allows them to skip traditional registration methods.

2. Passwordless Authentication A passwordless authentication system allows users to log in to a website or application without generating or remembering a traditional password. This method uses extra-security measures, such as a link, fingerprint, PIN, or a secret token delivered via email or text message. Passwordless login eliminates the need for both users and organizations to manage large volumes of passwords. There are many benefits associated with this new-age process.

Passwordless authentication increases security by eliminating the need to type passwords.

For users, a better screen time experience leads to an improved experience. Passwordless authentication provides an organization with fewer breaches and support costs.

Passwordless authentication can be used in the business to secure internal security and provide consumers with a more seamless experience by eliminating the need for them to remember passwords.

A few ways passwordless authentication can be used include: 1) getting a subscription, 2) signing up for an account, and 3) making an online payment.

Passwordless authentication is easier to implement than passwords; it's safe for both the user and the company.

3. Adaptive Authentication/ Risk-Based Authentication: The risk-based authentication (RBA) method uses various levels of stringency to authenticate users based on the likelihood that their access to a given system could be compromised. As the level of risk increases, the authentication process becomes more complicated and restrictive. RBA/adaptive authentication implementation follows the challenge and response process: One party presents a challenge (in the form of a question),

and the other party provides a response (in the form of a response) as the second factor after submitting a username and password. Multiple actions can be based on an administrator's configuration setup whenever a system identifies any risk with a login activity.

Conclusion: With the rise of innovative mobile and biometric solutions, a number of businesses now confidently rely on this technology to protect their most sensitive information. However, it’s critical to keep in mind that as a business, you need to ensure that the technology used to protect your customer information is reliable and will ensure that no high-value data is compromised. This is why it’s vital that you consider all authentication methods available when prioritizing strong authentication systems. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to authentication.