Remote Workforce Demands Biometric Identity Assurance

Posted by Grace de Fries, Chief of Staff

Adopting a remote work setup allowed companies and businesses to continue operations while observing quarantine protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the 2020 Future of Work report shows, many executives and recruiting professionals have worries about the health of their industries and the demand for skilled workers. Accordingly, the remote workforce is expected to fill the gaps anticipated in the coming years.

This recent rapid and increasing shift to a remote work model, however, can pose security risks to companies, especially if they are still using inadequate digital defenses. With remote working practices, there could be increased attempts to circumvent conventional security measures or use stolen data to impersonate legitimate employees to perform illegal acts.

 

According to a Gartner, Inc. survey of 145 legal and compliance leaders in 2020, cybersecurity and data breaches are the most increased risks organizations face since the onset of the pandemic. With these threats, companies must implement necessary measures and policies such as more robust and more effective identity authentication to ensure the safety of their enterprise platforms and services.

Additionally, since telecommuting arrangements are meant to give employees a more convenient and safer way to do their jobs amid the global health crisis, employers need to provide a seamless remote work experience to prevent delays and productivity loss.

As working from home becomes the new normal across industries, legacy systems must be replaced with more robust identity authentication methods that meet the demand for both security and hassle-free user experience.

 

Adopting a Passwordless System

Knowledge-based login credentials like passwords have been used across several platforms for decades. During onboarding, users are required to create a username and a password to secure their online account. However, these credentials are proven ineffective against cybersecurity threats, granting access to those who know the information but failing to determine if the person signing in to the network is who they claim to be.

Enterprises can replace knowledge-based credentials with biometric authentication that have additional security controls like active liveness detection and anti-spoofing features to prevent data breach attempts.

At the point of enrollment, telecommuters can use their camera-enabled device to take a selfie and scan their valid government ID to complete the identity proofing procedure. Furthermore, the active liveness and anti-spoofing features determine a person’s real-time presence to prevent cheating attempts like using someone else’s photo or video during onboarding.

As a supplement to biometrics, organizations can enable FIDO2 passwordless authentication to ensure that only authorized devices are used for remote working.

 

Device-Based Credentials in MFA

With device-based authentication like FIDO2 passwordless login, companies can allow their workers to register their devices to their accounts as an additional layer of defense in MFA. This login option offers simplicity while layering protection against cybersecurity threats. It integrates a strong combination of authentication factors like inherence factors (biometrics) and possession factors (device-based authentication).

Once a trusted identity has been established during enrollment, users can opt for passwordless login with FIDO2 credentials. It uses on-device authentication factors like cryptographic keys that cannot be unlocked without providing the biometric credential. Furthermore, since many mobile devices have built-in chips that keep the biometric enrollment template secure, it assures that the data cannot be extracted from the device.

These advanced defenses can provide a frictionless and hassle-free experience for users as they work from home. By combining FIDO2 cryptographic login with biometric technology, companies can address security while boosting employee productivity even during a pandemic.

 

Identity Assurance Throughout Work from Home Operations

Many biometric authentication solutions can also capture audit trails when accessing an account or making changes. These technologies can detect the device a person uses to log in and determine potentially suspicious activities with the device. Furthermore, device-based authentication can help assure that employees are not exploiting the company’s resources for fraudulent purposes.

Through multi-factor authentication, enterprises can also gain confidence that they can get auditable biometric consent to corporate transactions with high-value or high risk, such as access to confidential business files, issuing IT change orders, and safeguarding authorization for expenses.

 

Conclusion

Numerous companies are still working in a remote setup due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, they are continuously challenged to ensure security for their employees while providing a seamless user experience at a distance.

Because of persistent online threats and the increasing demand for a better user experience, firms must replace ineffective identity authentication methods with unphishable authentication. Strong multi-factor authentication combines biometrics with on-device credentials to help firms authorize and monitor remote worker logins. It can also help ensure that only legitimate employees use their known registered devices when telecommuting to prevent data breaches.

authID delivers trusted Identity Verification for remote onboarding of customers or employees worldwide. It leverages mobile technology, anti-spoofing liveness confirmation, and biometric matching of verified credentials to help speed up customers conversions and prevent fraudulent identities. authID extends the value of a proofed identity by enabling FIDO2 strong authentication for passwordless login. It delivers an identity verification solution that assures firms with quick, low-friction user experiences on trusted mobile devices. Verified harnesses authID’s seamless biometric identity proofing service to scan an identity document and take a selfie that establishes trust between biometrically verified individuals, their accounts, and their devices during user registration.

 

Schedule a Demo with authID

authID.ai is a provider of an Identity platform that delivers secure, mobile, biometric identity solutions, available to any vertical, anywhere. authID’s products help enterprises integrate passwordless authentication in their remote processes to enhance security and boost productivity.

Contact authID today at 1 (516) 778-5639 or click here to schedule a demo.