The world is now heavily digitalized. The vast majority of individuals, enterprises, and governments rely on the internet to function and complete various transactions. Because of this, cybersecurity has become an enormous concern.
In response to this issue, tech developers continue to develop ways to strengthen identity authentication. They have created multi-factor authentication (MFA) in support of outdated passwords. But even with this innovation, fraudulent activities continue to prevail. Thus, the technology industry has improved biometric authentication as a user ID verification.
Biometrics is not a relatively new technology. The first recorded biometric identification system was in the 1800s in Paris, France. This technology was known to be developed by Alphonse Bertillon, a French police officer. He applied the anthropological technique of anthropometry to law enforcement. It helped him create an identification system based on physical measurements. This is what people know as biometrics today.
Since then, the technology has developed and is now used by many business enterprises and government agencies. Most smartphones today, whether Android or iOS, also have a program that supports biometrics. However, the growing popularity of biometrics has brought concerns to people. Several biometric practices have caused debates around privacy and ethics.
Some companies have run into legal and political trouble for their approaches using this technology. Their actions have drawn the attention of policymakers and the courts. Many hope that these discussions will lead to better policies and the deployment of more ethical biometrics.
Tech developers endeavor to address these concerns. They aim to make sure that biometric technology is to be used for protection rather than exploitation of users. To achieve this, developers must uphold the pillars of ethical biometric use. This includes explicit informed consent from consumers to use biometrics. In addition, they must also strictly implement biometrics to be free of bias, regardless of one’s skin tone, race, gender, or other characteristics.
While there is no doubt that biometrics is recognized as the future of cyber security due to its stronger and safer systems, all users must remain vigilant. Criminals are always on the lookout for ways to carry out their illicit activities.
Human vulnerability is among the security themes that everyone must keep in mind for cybersecurity awareness. Even big corporations with the resources for cybersecurity teams have fallen victim to cyber-attacks due to human error and vulnerability. Most of the time, criminals target employees and vendors.
For example, Uber was compromised by a smishing scheme and MFA social engineering attack. The hacker was able to persuade one Uber employee to disclose their password, giving the criminal access to the company’s systems.
Researchers suggest implementing strong FIDO passwordless authentication to prevent similar attacks from occurring. Human-driven security susceptibilities also need human factor authentication, like biometrics, to enforce more robust protection.
Passkeys and Zero Trust are other security themes that individuals, companies, and government agencies must bear in mind as they raise cybersecurity awareness. To know more about these security themes, check this infographic by authID.