Passwordless Authentication

Introduction

Passwordless authentication remains an appealing, yet elusive, long-term goal for many organisations. The numerous implementation challenges — from legacy system compatibility to user adoption — can make it a complex and potentially expensive endeavour. It is well recognised that password-related vulnerabilities remain the major threat to organisational security, and that human behaviour is a key underlying factor with weak, compromised and reused passwords often factor in root causes of data breaches. These factors have driven some IT teams to continue the ongoing – and somewhat fruitless – continuous cycle of enhancing password security policies in a belief that there remains no other viable option.

A successful implementation of passwordless authentication offers several potential benefits including:

• Enhanced security: By eliminating the need for users to create and remember complex credentials, passwordless authentication can significantly reduce the risk of breaches caused by human error.

• Improved end user experience: Passwordless authentication is desirable from an end-user perspective. After all, who relishes the challenge of remembering multiple complex passwords across various accounts?

• Reduced IT burden: Passwordless authentication promises to lighten IT teams' administrative load by:

  • decreasing password reset requests and related support tickets.

  • removing constant password policy management

  • reduced expenditure on password hygiene tools and procedures

However, despite the ongoing efforts to establish an industry standard (FIDO2) and the release of a number of passwordless products many challenges remain.

The challenges of going passwordless

Notwithstanding the significant benefits, the numerous challenges organisations face when considering a move to passwordless authentication can appear insurmountable and depending on the industry, compliance and regulatory considerations also come into the mix.

• Legacy system compatibility.

• User adoption and training.

• Backup authentication methods.

• Biometric data privacy concerns.

• Interoperability challenges.

• Regulatory considerations.

• Multiple Solution for different environments.

• Hardware Requirements.

 Addressing the challenges.

A complete passwordless authentication solution should:

• Utilise next generation and phish-resistant MFA

• Remove the burden of creating and remembering unique complex passwords

• Remove user friction from layers of weaker authentication methods

• Solve for every system and application

• Support IT teams by reducing workloads and systems maintenances / no of solutions supported

• Reduce CISO concerns over compliance with password hygiene and related policy

• Utilise a certified stand alone hardware based authenticator

VeroGuard Systems provides passwordless authentication experience without the risks and costs associated with other approaches. In fact the VeroGuard Platform can deliver significant savings to an organisation.

Challenge	VeroGuard Response
1.   Legacy system compatibility: Many businesses rely on a mix of modern and legacy systems — some of which may not support passwordless authentication methods. Updating or replacing these systems can be costly and time-consuming, often requiring significant changes to existing infrastructure.	The VeroGuard Platform works with legacy and modern systems providing a common passwordless experience for all environments. This supports a managed transition whilst providing all the benefits of going passwordless without the complexity and cost.
2.   User adoption and training: While passwordless methods may be intuitive to tech-savvy users, they can confuse others. Your organisation may need to invest in comprehensive training to ensure all employees can effectively use the new authentication system.	The VeroCard interface uses a familiar PIN prompt and entry with a simple and familiar Bluetooth or NFC connection to any device. The authentication experience remains the same irrelevant of the device, operating system or network.
3.   Backup authentication methods: Even with passwordless primary authentication, most systems still require a backup method — which tends to be a traditional password. This means passwords don't truly disappear; they just become less visible, potentially leading to weaker security practices around these "hidden" passwords.	With Active Directory VeroGuard takes over the password management to effectively nullify this vulnerability, with a feature to also roll a password on each login avoiding the threats of replay or similar attacks. VeroCard’s can contain password wallets, key management and other methods of secure access all protected by a personal certified hardware security module. A number of secure backup options are available to support access policies.
4.   Biometric data privacy concerns: Many passwordless solutions rely on biometric data, such as fingerprints or facial recognition. This raises important questions about data privacy and storage. Your organisation must carefully consider the legal (and ethical) implications of collecting and managing this type of sensitive information	VeroGuard does not use or rely on biometrics. Biometrics not only create the concerns of privacy and ethics biometrics particularly when dependent on a smartphone for capture vary in reliability and security. Biometric solutions vary in quality across devices, and deployment consideration must accept that any biometric is probabilistic by design and not deterministic meaning that false positives are an accepted part of any biometric solution.
5.   Hardware requirements: Some passwordless solutions require specific hardware, such as fingerprint readers or security keys. Equipping your organisation with these devices can be expensive, especially if you have a large or distributed workforce.	VeroGuard provides a single hardware terminal for next generation phish-resistant authentication at a cost-effective price. With the added benefits provided by passwordless authentication and the broader VeroGuard platform
6.   Interoperability challenges: In environments where employees need to access multiple systems and applications, it can be tricky for your IT team to ensure seamless interoperability between different passwordless solutions.	Because VeroGuard is a Platform, interoperability and integration challenges can be solved for legacy systems either at the host, hardware or client level, and VeroGuard supports the modern passwordless standards such as OAuth and FIDO2. Integration at any point does not change the common authentication user experience.
7.   Regulatory considerations: Depending on your industry and location, your business may face regulatory requirements that impact your choice of authentication methods. Some regulations may mandate specific security measures or data protection practices that could influence your decision between passwordless and traditional password systems.	VeroGuard is suitable for any regulated industry. Defence certified for use in sensitive high assurance environments, and equally suitable to business and enterprise alike.

VeroGuard

Organisations wanting to go passwordless without the challenges can deploy VeroGuard Platform today and start enjoying the benefits of secure, unified and universal authentication across the enterprise.