We often discuss the merits of biometric authentication as a way to advance cybersecurity on personal and enterprise levels. But it’s important for you to understand why biometrics offer improvements to security, and what the advantages actually are.
No Passwords to Steal
Passwords account for 81 percent of data breaches, making them the biggest flaw in personal and enterprise security. Biometrics allow companies to replace passwords and tokens with an easy-to-use yet secure solution, eliminating the threat passwords pose and boosting overall access control with proof of identity.
Proof of Identity
The main advantage that biometric authentication brings to security is proof of who’s behind the transaction. Whether it’s making a payment or logging into a server, biometrics require a physical component, who the user actually is, to grant access. Identity-based access control is a significant improvement over alternative authentication factors – something you know or something you are – because these can be borrowed, sold, or stolen. Only biometrics provides proof of identity, rather than simply granting access.
Improved Privacy
While one of the biggest concerns consumers have surrounding biometrics is privacy, a properly implemented biometric authentication solution actually enhances personal privacy. When biometric data is encrypted and securely stored using techniques like visual cryptography and a distributed data model, it drastically reduces the risk of a user’s biometric data being compromised in a data breach – not to mention cutting the risk of a data breach itself.
These are just a few of the advantages that biometric-based security provides. Using biometrics for multi factor authentication instead of combinations of passwords and tokens optimizes convenience and security for everyone involved and helps companies prepare their identity and access management infrastructure for future developments in both security and privacy regulation. Ultimately, however, the proof is in the advances many companies are already making in their security strategies by incorporating biometric authentication.
